Michelle Mulder is the Executive Director of the Grants, Innovation and Product Development Unit (GIPD) at the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC). Michelle strategically manages the Research & Development (R&D) funding, including SAMRC grant mechanisms and strategic funding partnerships, to enable the SAMRC to fund and support cutting edge research that impacts on the lives of South Africans. This role also focuses on  supporting and driving innovation, both within the SAMRC and with external innovation projects aimed at developing new health solutions.

Dr Mulder has spent 10 years consulting on technology innovation through her own company and has been involved for the last 17 years in the strategic management and commercialization of the SAMRC’s intellectual property and in capacity building in these areas in southern and east Africa.

She has also spent the last 8 years managing grant funding for the SAMRC. She has been heading the Technology Transfer Office, the Global Health Innovation Accelerator and the GIPD HIV Programme, and provided oversight of various other grant programs and strategic projects for GIPD.

Dr Mulder has also been extensively involved in the SAMRC’s funding response to COVID-19. She served as a member of the Executive Committee of the Southern African Research & Innovation Management Association (SARIMA) for 10 years, including 3 years as Vice President: Innovation and Technology Transfer, and 2 years as President. She served previously as Chair of the Board of Acorn Technologies, a life sciences incubator, a Director of the Licensing Executive’s Society South Africa, the South Africa Liaison for the Life Sciences Committee of LESI, and a member of the Higher Education South Africa (HESA) Strategy Group for Innovation and Technology Transfer. She currently serves as a Board Member of the Biologicals and Vaccines Institute of SA (Biovac) and two SAMRC linked companies and is a member of the NHLS Research and Innovation Committee.