SABMR Board and Governance

Juthika Hariram is an attorney with Right of Appearance in the High Court; her experience is in both civil and criminal litigation. She has also completed an MBA which she felt has empowered and encouraged her to broaden her thinking and take on any challenge. Juthika is also one of the SABMR unrelated stem cell donors. Together with her legal skills, she is able to bring a unique perspective to the Board of the SABMR.

Prior to heading the SABMR, Charlotte Ingram served as Medical Director of the South African National Blood Service (SANBS). Her qualifications span clinical haematology [MMed (Haem) Wits] and haematopathology [FCP (PathHaem) Wits]. Her experience in academic and blood transfusion organisations includes managing HLA typing laboratories and cryopreservation of peripheral blood stem cells.

An SABMR staff member since 2013, Jane is registered with the HPCSA with special in Chemical Pathology. She began her career in private pathology sector and is currently also the Head of Donor Services at the SABMR.

David Cohen is a chartered accountant with his own practice specialising in business consulting, accounting and taxation. Prior to this, he served as director of a large audit practice. His experience covers a large spectrum of the commercial and industrial business world.

Bukhosi Mtukushe is a graduate of the University of Cape Town and holds a Diploma in Anaesthesia (CMSA).  He graduated with an LLB degree from the University of Pretoria and is currently cutting his teeth in the Law profession.   He has worked in public sector hospitals throughout his career, mainly in the field of Obstetrics & Anaesthesia.

Karin is the Medical Director of the South African National Blood Service (SANBS) and serves on the Boards of the South African Bone Marrow Registry and the South African Tissue Bank Association. Previously, she was the Lead Consultant for Translational Research for SANBS where she was responsible for research development and management. She holds a Master’s in Transfusion Medicine, is on the steering committee of the Global Transfusion Forum, co-author of the Model Framework for Global Transfusion Medicine Education and member of several of the International Society for Blood Transfusion and Association for the Advancement of Blood and Biotherapies Working Parties. Her main research focus area is the intersection of the HIV epidemic and blood donation in South Africa, which is also the focus of her PhD.

Stuart is a qualified Actuary and Certified Director with 27 years of experience in the insurance sector. He has extensive experience across all aspects of insurance with a focus on Finance and Board reporting in the more recent years. He currently sits on a number of boards and trusts.

Matlhogonolo has been in the accounting profession since 2010 when she started her articles with one of the big four firms, qualifying as a Chartered Accountant in 2012. During articles, she had oversight of audits in financial services and also provided advisory services within the technical accounting department.

Post articles, she worked at Absa Capital from 2013 to 2014 as an Accountant. Thereafter, she joined Stanlib as Pricing Manager responsible for regulatory and financial reporting of all the Firm’s unit trusts.

In her capacity as Managing Director of Bagaka Group, Matlhogonolo is responsible for strategy and business development. Her passion lies in impact investing and integration of sustainability in business models.

Professional Designations - Chartered Accountant (SA) (SAICA - 20027202),
Registered Auditor (IRBA – 362636), Certified Internal Auditor (IIA – 2196772)

Academic Qualifications - Bachelor of Accounting Science - Wits (2009),
Higher Diploma in Accounting (CTA) - Wits (2010),
Masters in Business Administration - GIBS (2020)

Years of Professional Experience - +10 years

Dr Lucille Sarah Singh received her MBChB degree from the University of Pretoria in 2005. She went on to specialize in Internal Medicine through the University of the Witwatersrand and qualified as a Specialist Physician in 2012. She developed a keen interest in Clinical Haematology during the latter part of her Internal Medicine training
and qualified as a Clinical Haematologist in 2014. She has been in private practice since 2016. She joined the ACT (Albert’s Cellular Therapy) team at Netcare Pretoria East Hospital in 2022 as a Transplant Physician. The ACT practice is the only clinical facility in Africa that is JACIE accredited for adult autologous and allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplants and part of Dr Singh’s non-clinical duties include participation in the Quality Management system and Data Management.

Dr Singh also currently serves as Secretary of the South African Clinical Haematology Society and serves regularly on the clinical review panel of the South African Oncology Consortium (SAOC).

MBChB, FCP (SA), MMedSc (Critical Care), Cert Clin Haematology (SA) Phys

Dr Pieter de Witt is a clinical hematologist at the Netcare Hospital in Kuils River, Cape Town. He completed his undergraduate training at Stellenbosch University in 2003 and began his medical career at Kimberley Hospital, during which he developed a keen interest in critical care. He completed a MMedSc degree in Critical Care Medicine at the University of Free State followed by specialist training in Internal Medicine at the University of Stellenbosch. After spending time in various fields as a physician, he realized that his passion was for haematology and stem cell transplantation. In 2015 he qualified as a clinical hematologist at the University of Cape Town and started a private practice with his associate, Dr Hannes Koornhof.

MBCHB, DCH, FC PEAD, MMed Pead,  PG Dip Pal Pead, Cert Med Oncol Pead,  GHEI (UofT), Cert BMT & Cell Therapy  (UofT))

Dr Thandeka Nkabi holds a medical undergraduate degree from the University of Cape Town and  completed a Diploma in Child Health from the Colleges of Medicine of South Africa. At the end of her registrar training she received a Fellowship of the College of Paediatricians of South Africa, as well as an MMed Degree from the University of Pretoria.   She immediately joined the subspecialist fellowship program in Paediatric Medical Oncology at the University of Pretoria, but upon realising poor outcomes in paediatric oncology patients, she completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Paediatric Palliative Care from the University of Cape Town, at the same time as her Certificate of Medical Oncology in Paediatric. In 2021, seeking further knowledge on curative treatments for children with cancers and haematological disorders, she pursued another subspecialist fellowship in Blood/Marrow Transplant and Cellular Therapy at The Hospital for Sick Children with the University of Toronto in Canada.  During her fellowship at The Hospital for Sick Children, she was part of Dr Wall’s Stem Cell Laboratory team which collaborated clinical and laboratory research projects on BMT patients, she worked on the project ‘Re-envisioning Autologous Bone Marrow Transplant in Paediatric Patients’, this was both a retrospective and prospective study looking at autologous graft cell composition, and its effect on the immune recovery of autologous bone marrow transplants patients.  The aim of the study was to understand immune recovery post BMT, hence advise on post stem cell infusion strategies which will help sustain immune surveillance on cancer patients, with high relapse rate diseases like neuroblastoma, and brain tumours.  She also worked on a number of non-myeloablative bone marrow transplants for patients with Sickle Cell Disease, with the intension of adapting similar practices for developing nations.  Upon her return to South Africa in 2023, her work included being part of the Charlotte Maxheke Johannesburg Academic Hospital’s paediatric oncology team which performed their first bone marrow transplant after 10 years under limited state facility resources.  She currently has an honorary post in Paediatric Medical Oncology at Steve Biko Academic Hospital, where together with the team are working to improve access the paediatric transplant programs, as well as work on improving outcomes of Haploidentical bone marrow transplants for patients with no matches on the registry. Dr Nkabi is passionate about bringing high quality care to disadvantaged patients, who are often seen in under resourced state facilities.