Professor Theuns Avenant
Theunis Avenant heads the Department of Paediatrics at Kalafong Provincial Tertiary Hospital, a teaching hospital of the University of Pretoria, where he also acts as assistant to the Dean. He is a registered sub-specialist in Paediatric Infectious Diseases and regularly lectures at conferences on diverse topics in this field. In addition to serving on several University and Hospital committees has served on the executive committees of the South African Paediatric Association (SAPA) and the Southern African Society of Paediatric Infectious Diseases. Other interests include travel medicine, undergraduate and postgraduate medical training.

Lee Baker qualified as a pharmacist at Witwatersrand College for Advanced Technical Education in 1975 and has worked as a medicine information pharmacist for the past 33 years and is owner of the Amayeza Info Centre.


She is a member of the South African Malaria Elimination Committee (SAMEC) that is working towards eliminating malaria in South Africa and is involved in compiling the current malaria guidelines on treatment and prevention. She is the South African representative and chairperson for the Pharmacy Professional Group of ISTM and is President of the SASTM. She is the editor of two books; Beyond Childhood Vaccinationand Guide to the Practice of Travel Medicine in South Africaand co-editor of The Older Traveller – a guide for the health professional.

Professor Lucille Blumberg is a Deputy Director of the National Institute for Communicable Diseases, of the National Health Laboratory Service, and currently head of the Public Health Surveillance and Response Division. She is also medical consultant to the Emerging Pathogens Centre on rabies and viral haemorrhagic fevers. She has specialist qualifications in clinical microbiology, travel medicine, and infectious diseases. Her special interests are in tropical diseases, travel medicine, malaria, the viral haemorrhagic fevers, and rabies. She is a member of a number of South African expert groups on Ebola, rabies, malaria and serves on various WHO Advisory Groups.

Dr Garth Brink
Graduated from the University of Pretoria before the turn of the Century, and entered family medicine practice in Durban in 1972. Subsequently he obtained the MPraxMed degree from Medunsa and the Fellowship of the College of Family Physicians, South Africa.
Dr Brink’s involvement in travel medicine began in 2004 as President, and subsequent to that he was appointed as the Project Manager for the Society.
He is the Past Chairman of the Destination Communities Special Interest Group of the ISTM, and a member of the Education Committee.

Dr Albie de Frey
Obtained medical degree from the University of Pretoria in 1983 followed by Diplomas in Primary Emergency Care and Anaesthesiology from the South African College of Medicine and a Diploma in Travel Medicine from the University of Glasgow and Certificate in Travel Health from the International Society of Travel Medicine. Fellow of the Faculty of Travel Medicine of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons, Glasgow, Scotland and the Faculty of Travel Medicine of the Australasian College of Tropical Medicine, Australia.
Senior Honorary Lecturer in the School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of the Witwatersrand and instrumental in the development of WITS’s Travel Medicine Course developed in conjunction with James Cook University, Townsville, Australia. Lectures to 2nd and 5th year medical students at several universities and the DTM&H Class at WITS.
Member of the WHO Expert Roster on Travel Health and Founding member of Worldwide Travel Medical Consultants and Director of the Travel Doctor Corporate in South Africa.

Professor Adriano Duse
Professor Duse is Professor and HOD of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases at WITS University and the National Health Laboratory Services.

John Frean is Head, Parasitology Reference Laboratory, Centre for Emerging, Zoonotic and Parasitic Diseases, National Institute for Communicable Diseases and is affiliated to the Research Institute for Malaria, School of Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand. He holds South African, United Kingdom and Australian qualifications in medicine, pathology (microbiology and parasitology), tropical and travel medicine. His areas of interest are clinical and diagnostic microbiology and tropical medicine, especially parasitic and zoonotic diseases.

Dr David Hyams
Graduated with MBChB ,University of Pretoria 1986.
During 2 years of Military service, qualified as an Aviation Medical Examiner.
Spent 1year as Medical officer in Departments of Paediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Ear -nose and throat.
Qualified in Travel Medicine in 2001.
Private general Practitioner/director of Menlynmed in the east of Pretoria for the last 25 years.

Johan Marais is the C.E.O of The African Snakebite Institute and is affiliated with the University of the Witwatersrand. His interest is venomous snakes and snakebite. He lectures widely on snakes of Africa as well as snake handling and first aid in snake bite.

He has two publications: A Complete Guide to snakes of Southern Africa and Snakes & Snakebite in Southern Africa.

Dr Jack Meintjes
Dr Meintjes is presently employed at the Tygerberg Academic Hospital and the Facility of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University.
He is a Specialist Consultant in Occupational Medicine, Head of the Unit for Infection Prevention and Control as well as the programme co-ordinator of all postgraduate programmes in Underwater Medicine and Hyperbaric Medicine.

Practical experience: He was employed in the military for 11 years and was responsible for the medical support for the SA Navy divers and submariners. After this he got involved in the international commercial diving sector, doing approximately 800 diving medical examinations per year. Dr Meintjes was the medical officer on site during the 270m deep dive in 2005, where Dave Shaw lost his life (and spent more than 9 hours in the chamber saving the lives of his companions).

Salim Parker is a general practitioner based in Cape Town and immediate Past-President of the South African Society of Travel Medicine. He is the co-director of the Cape Town GeoSentinel site and currently serves on the Liaison Committee of the International Society of Travel Medicine (ISTM) as well as on the editorial board of the Journal of Travel Medicine. In collaboration with the Global Centre for Mass Gathering Medicine, he is involved in Hajj pilgrimage related research. Original research has been presented at the last five ISTM conferences. He has authored book chapters, including co-authoring the 2018 Hajj chapter in the CDC Health Information for International Travel.

Dr Roberg is a Consultant in Infectious Diseases at the Rosebank Clinic and for the Department of Health at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital.

Professor Mary Ross
Mary was a founder member of SASTM and the SASTM course while she was on the full-time staff of the University of the Witwatersrand in 2000. She is now an independent consultant in occupational, public health and travel medicine. During her career, she has worked in diverse positions managing health services at local, provincial and national levels, teaching, and overseeing research in her fields of interest. Mary holds an academic appointment as honorary professor in public health medicine at the University of the Witwatersrand. Mary is currently a Member of the Board of ICOH. She is also a member of the WHO advisory group for the International Health Regulations.

Dr Robert Weiss
Robert Weiss graduated at the University of the Witwatersrand in 1980. He studied dermatology at the University of the Witwatersrand and completed his Fellow of the College of Dermatology exams in 1986.
He is currently the immediate past- President of the Dermatology Society of South Africa
Dr Weiss has been the editor of S A Dermatology Review for the last 14 years He has published widely in both local and international peer-reviewed journals and is on the South African National Guidelines Committees for Atopic eczema, Acne, Psoriasis and the Psoriasis biologics review committee.
Dr Weiss serves on a number of medical advisory boards to multinational companies.
His interests include bird watching, cycling and mountain climbing. He has recently published a book on high altitude trekking in the Himalayas.

Max Winkler graduated from the University of Cape Town and is a general practitioner at the Hout Bay Family Medical Centre in Hout Bay, Cape Town, South Africa, offering travel medicine related advice to travellers in the travel clinic as well as general clinical duties. His fields of interest include infectious diseases, wilderness medicine and occupational health. He is President-elect, the South African Society of Travel Medicine.