Professor Fatima Suleman Selected Prince Claus Chair of Development and Equity
Professor Fatima Suleman, an Associate Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences at UKZN, has been selected as the Prince Claus Chair of Development and Equity for the theme Affordable (Bio)Therapeutics for Public Health by Utrecht University in The Netherlands. Her appointment will be valid until September 2018.
In her acceptance speech at the Utrecht University Hall, Suleman discussed her approach to affordable (bio)Therapeutics and its impact on public health. She will conduct research on affordable (bio)Therapeutics with scholars from Utrecht University, other scholars in The Netherlands, and the World Health Organization (WHO) during her term.
Suleman will be working within the strategic research theme of Life Sciences while in Utrecht. She will hold her Chair in the Faculty of Science’s Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences.
The Chair, Affordable (Bio)Therapeutics for Public Health, is strongly linked to research conducted in that department, particularly in the Utrecht Centre of Excellence for Affordable Biotherapeutics and the WHO Collaborating Centre for Pharmaceutical Policy and Regulation.
The Utrecht WHO Collaborating Centre for Pharmaceutical Policy and Regulation is situated in the Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Clinical Pharmacology of Utrecht University.
In addition to her appointment at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Suleman has also worked with Drake University in the United States. She is interested in equity and access to medicines, pricing and reimbursement policies, and essential medicines, particularly for chronic conditions that cause significant suffering.
Suleman is also the Chair of the National Pricing Committee for Medicines in South Africa and has served on several international committees on drug pricing, including an informal panel at WHO on Fair Pricing. She was also a member of the WHO Expert Committee on the Selection and Use of Essential Medicines and the WHO Expert consultation on improving access to and use of similar biotherapeutic products in May.