Prof Douglas B Kell from Liverpool says: dbkgroup.org/dbk/
Resia Pretorius is the leading research authority in coagulation pathology and ultrastructure and her prominent and ground-breaking work has been internationally acknowledged by her peers. She uses innovative ultrastructure and viscoelastic techniques that include confocal microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and thromboelastography (TEG) to study pathologic interactions of platelets, erythrocytes and fibrin in inflammatory conditions. Resia’s proactive strategic research agenda is primarily aimed at reducing the global burden of morbidity and mortality due to various inflammatory haematological complications. She has made a profound and sustained contribution in inflammatory research and has published some 220 research publications in international peer-reviewed journals, including papers in high impact journals such as The Lancet, FEMS Microbiology Reviews, Blood Reviews and Journal of Alzheimer Disease that attest to this. Resia was awarded the African Union Kwame Nkrumah Women in Science award in 2011 and was a finalist in the 2015 South African NSTF–BHP BILLITON Awards.
Her major scientific achievements can be divided into 3 parts:
1) She has been to create a vital mind-shift in the understanding of inflammation by developing new approaches to study the role of coagulation parameters and the development of rapid diagnostic methods for these purposes. Her research has translated into 5 patents. Of significant importance, is 2 low-cost nanobiosensors patents for early detection of inflammation and platelet activation, are of great importance, not only for developing countries, but also for the rest of the world.
2) Her contribution in particular to the role of eryptotic erythrocytes in Diabetes, Stroke, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease is also immense. I have also noted with much admiration the unique approach that she follows where she promotes the use of novel techniques, including confocal and scanning electron microscopy, thromboelastography and flow cytometry, to be used in a precision medicine, patient-orientated approach.
3) Her novel diagnostic methodology has led to the discovery of the role of a dormant blood microbiome in inflammatory conditions, and the crucial association of pathologic erythrocytes with bacteria. I believe this discovery of a major microbial component in chronic inflammatory disease, linked to iron dysregulation, is as important as the discovery of the involvement of Helicobacter pylori in the development of ulcers (a discovery that led to a Nobel prize for Marshall and Warren). The above-mentioned research resulted in once recent publication where a group of 33 world- renowned Alzheimer’s disease researchers wrote a landmark editorial in the renowned Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease. In this editorial they discussed the incontrovertible evidence that Alzheimer’s disease has a dormant microbial component that might play a fundamental role in the development and progression of the disease. The publication resulted in various press releases where Resia was quoted: “the microbial presence in blood may also play a fundamental role as causative agent of systemic inflammation, which is a characteristic of Alzheimer’s disease”, and that “there is ample evidence that LPS, a neurotoxin from bacterial membranes, can cause neuroinflammation and amyloid-β plaque formation.” These press releases appeared in March 2016 and some of the more prominent publications include the UK Telegraph, neurosciencenews.com, The (UK) Independent, Laboratoryequipment.com, and also Time Magazine. This discovery was also show-cased in New Scientist. See: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2104864-bacteria-lurking-in-blood-could-be-culprit-in-countless-diseases/ Her recent work and discovery that, during inflammation, fibrin(ogen) changes its conformation to an amyloid protein structure, and visualizing this with amyloid fluorescent markers, is of great scientific importance, as this might give the scientific fraternity novel insights with regards to pathological clotting. Furthermore, her discovery that minute concentrations of bacterial inflammagens are significant drivers of hypercoagulation during inflammation and in e.g. neuro-inflammatory conditions like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease, and that in may in fact be one of the major causative agents in these conditions, are of particular significance for both the treatment of these diseases as well as the treatment and prevention of the accompanying systemic inflammation and pathological clotting (which is a distinctive feature of these conditions). She has published extensively on this subject, in high-impact journals.
In a modern biology obsessed with molecular minutiae, Resia focuses on phenotypic properties, as well as their causes, and she uses novel research strategies and techniques to address the pandemic of inflammatory conditions, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, stroke and diabetes. I believe her extensive publication record, her international visibility, as well as her ground-breaking and innovative research, confirms her status as a renowned international researcher. Furthermore, she has been the recipient of the Women in Science award (2017), as well as the NSTF award in South Africa (2018).
Douglas B. Kell, CBE, DPhil, FLSW, FAAAS
Resia Pretorius is the leading research authority in coagulation pathology and ultrastructure and her prominent and ground-breaking work has been internationally acknowledged by her peers. She uses innovative ultrastructure and viscoelastic techniques that include confocal microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and thromboelastography (TEG) to study pathologic interactions of platelets, erythrocytes and fibrin in inflammatory conditions. Resia’s proactive strategic research agenda is primarily aimed at reducing the global burden of morbidity and mortality due to various inflammatory haematological complications. She has made a profound and sustained contribution in inflammatory research and has published some 220 research publications in international peer-reviewed journals, including papers in high impact journals such as The Lancet, FEMS Microbiology Reviews, Blood Reviews and Journal of Alzheimer Disease that attest to this. Resia was awarded the African Union Kwame Nkrumah Women in Science award in 2011 and was a finalist in the 2015 South African NSTF–BHP BILLITON Awards.
Her major scientific achievements can be divided into 3 parts:
1) She has been to create a vital mind-shift in the understanding of inflammation by developing new approaches to study the role of coagulation parameters and the development of rapid diagnostic methods for these purposes. Her research has translated into 5 patents. Of significant importance, is 2 low-cost nanobiosensors patents for early detection of inflammation and platelet activation, are of great importance, not only for developing countries, but also for the rest of the world.
2) Her contribution in particular to the role of eryptotic erythrocytes in Diabetes, Stroke, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease is also immense. I have also noted with much admiration the unique approach that she follows where she promotes the use of novel techniques, including confocal and scanning electron microscopy, thromboelastography and flow cytometry, to be used in a precision medicine, patient-orientated approach.
3) Her novel diagnostic methodology has led to the discovery of the role of a dormant blood microbiome in inflammatory conditions, and the crucial association of pathologic erythrocytes with bacteria. I believe this discovery of a major microbial component in chronic inflammatory disease, linked to iron dysregulation, is as important as the discovery of the involvement of Helicobacter pylori in the development of ulcers (a discovery that led to a Nobel prize for Marshall and Warren). The above-mentioned research resulted in once recent publication where a group of 33 world- renowned Alzheimer’s disease researchers wrote a landmark editorial in the renowned Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease. In this editorial they discussed the incontrovertible evidence that Alzheimer’s disease has a dormant microbial component that might play a fundamental role in the development and progression of the disease. The publication resulted in various press releases where Resia was quoted: “the microbial presence in blood may also play a fundamental role as causative agent of systemic inflammation, which is a characteristic of Alzheimer’s disease”, and that “there is ample evidence that LPS, a neurotoxin from bacterial membranes, can cause neuroinflammation and amyloid-β plaque formation.” These press releases appeared in March 2016 and some of the more prominent publications include the UK Telegraph, neurosciencenews.com, The (UK) Independent, Laboratoryequipment.com, and also Time Magazine. This discovery was also show-cased in New Scientist. See: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2104864-bacteria-lurking-in-blood-could-be-culprit-in-countless-diseases/ Her recent work and discovery that, during inflammation, fibrin(ogen) changes its conformation to an amyloid protein structure, and visualizing this with amyloid fluorescent markers, is of great scientific importance, as this might give the scientific fraternity novel insights with regards to pathological clotting. Furthermore, her discovery that minute concentrations of bacterial inflammagens are significant drivers of hypercoagulation during inflammation and in e.g. neuro-inflammatory conditions like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease, and that in may in fact be one of the major causative agents in these conditions, are of particular significance for both the treatment of these diseases as well as the treatment and prevention of the accompanying systemic inflammation and pathological clotting (which is a distinctive feature of these conditions). She has published extensively on this subject, in high-impact journals.
In a modern biology obsessed with molecular minutiae, Resia focuses on phenotypic properties, as well as their causes, and she uses novel research strategies and techniques to address the pandemic of inflammatory conditions, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, stroke and diabetes. I believe her extensive publication record, her international visibility, as well as her ground-breaking and innovative research, confirms her status as a renowned international researcher. Furthermore, she has been the recipient of the Women in Science award (2017), as well as the NSTF award in South Africa (2018).
Douglas B. Kell, CBE, DPhil, FLSW, FAAAS