MASSAf, PhD, MBChB, FCOG, LLM, PGDip-IntResEthics

Professor Ames Dhai is Founder and Past Director of the Steve Biko Centre for Bioethics at the Wits Faculty of Health Sciences (2007 – 2019), Visiting Professor of Bioethics and Health Law at the Wits School of Clinical Medicine, Specialist Ethicist at the Office of the President and CEO of the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) and member of the Academy of Science South Africa (ASSAf). Some of her current activities include: Honorary Professor in the College of Human and Health Sciences, Swansea University, UK; Chairperson of the SAMRC Bioethics Advisory Panel; Vice Chairperson of the International Bioethics Committee of UNESCO; Chair of the ASSAf Biosafety and Biosecurity Committee; member on several consensus panels of the ASSAf, including the ASSAf Panel on Gene Therapies and Gene Editing ELSI; Vice-Chair on the Ministerial Advisory Committee for COVID-19 Vaccines where she heads the Technical Working Group on Mandatory Vaccinations; member of the Ministerial Advisory Committee on Unrelated Organ Transplants and a member of the Advisory Committee to the SA Law Commission Project on Medical Litigation. Her past roles include serving two terms as Deputy Chair of the National Health Research Ethics Council and member of the Board of the Health Professions Council of SA. She is Editor-in-chief of the South African Journal of Bioethics and Law and Associate Editor of the South African Medical Journal. She is a mediator with international accreditation through the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution, UK. Professor Dhai is a leading authority in Bioethics both internationally and locally, and can be credited with entrenching bioethics and human rights as an integral aspect of health sciences in SA. Using an academic platform, Professor Dhai has taken a lead in health advocacy and activism. She has published extensively in this field. Professor Dhai started her career as a medical doctor, specialised as an obstetrician and gynaecologist and then moved into the disciplines of bioethics and health law.