OUR BOARD MEMBERS
Professor Aqiel Dalvie
Prof Aqiel Dalvie BSc (Physiology, Chemistry) University of Cape Town, BSc MED (HONS) in Sports Science, Masters (Community Health), University of Cape Town, PhD (Public Health) University of Cape Town.
I am the current Chair and a founding member of Chemical Alert Africa, a full Professor of Public Health based in the Centre for Environmental and Occupational Health Research (CEOHR) at the School of Public Health and Family Medicine, University of Cape Town and former Director and current Deputy Director of CEOHR. I am also the South African SARChI of the Bilateral SA Swiss Research Chair in Global Environmental Health and current Acting Head of the Environmental Division at UCT.
My experience of 28 years in environmental and occupational epidemiology have focussed on adverse health and pollution especially due to endocrine disruption and pesticides, but also including air pollution, water pollution, climate change and toxic metals.
In terms of research, I have published widely in the international literature, been part of the scientific committees of premiere environmental health conferences, invited to present at international scientific events, on the editorial board of 2 international journals, regular reviewer for top environmental health journals and raised over R 50 million of research funding as principal investigator or co-investigator.
Additionally, I have supervised numerous post-graduate students and post-doctoral students, I am the convenor of a master’s module on Climate Change, Pollution and Health at UCT and am on the executive committee of 2 internal environmental health organisations.
Sean M. Patrick
I am an Associate Professor in Health Measurement Sciences at the University of Pretoria and a researcher with the Environmental Chemical Pollution and Health (ECPH) Research Unit. I hold a PhD in Environmental Health and have worked in the field of endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) since 2007. My early research focused on DDT exposure in aquatic ecosystems and evolved to in vivo studies on reproductive health. My work bridges toxicology, environmental health, and public health systems through a transdisciplinary lens.
I have served as a principal investigator and co-investigator on numerous national and international studies on prostate cancer and EDC exposures, as well as grants on climate change, gender, and environmental health. My research has been published in leading journals such as Nature, Environmental Health Perspectives, and Genome Medicine, including work linking EDCs to epigenetic transmission, prostate cancer, and climate-health vulnerabilities. With mentions of my work in 319 social media posts, 75 news and blog posts, and 14 mentions in policy and guidelines.
I have supervised over 40 postgraduate students, many of whom focus on EDC-related themes in community health and environmental monitoring. I lead curriculum development in public health education holding three Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) grants, aimed at improving online students’ experiences, integrating EDC topics into environmental health modules, and creating smart learning environments in public health education.
I joined the board of Chemical Alert Africa in 2024, contributing to policy advocacy and community engagement around toxic exposures. My work supports sustainable, evidence-based responses to chemical pollution, with a commitment to health equity, environmental justice, and capacity-building across academic and grassroots platforms.
Kevin Dornbrack
I am a PhD candidate in Social Anthropology at the University of Oslo. I hold a Master’s degree in Environmental Humanities, as well as Honour’s and Bachelor’s degrees in Social Anthropology and Social Science from the University of Cape Town.
I joined the board of Chemical Alert Africa in September 2022. I was the lead author of the report Situational Analysis of Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals in South Africa: Legislation, Policies and Programmes, which maps out the legislative and civil society landscape around endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in South Africa and puts forward key recommendations for addressing them.
My work explores the intersection of toxicity and social justice. I take an interdisciplinary approach to understanding the layered socio-political dynamics of pesticide use, regulation, and its unintended effects in South Africa. My current research focuses on activist movements that are challenging existing regulations and trying to make visible the often overlooked or invisible effects of routine pesticide exposure. In a country with a well-established legacy of social justice movements amidst shifting local and global political landscapes, my work also engages the possibilities and limitations of activism in the contemporary moment.
Dr Bruce Dick
Dr Bruce Dick MB, BS (Guys Hospital, University of London), DCM (University of Cape Town, South Africa), MFPHM (Royal College of Physicians, UK).
In addition to being a founding member of Chemical Alert Africa, I am currently an Independent Consultant focusing on Adolescent Health in low- and middle-income countries and a Senior Associate, Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Previously I was a Medical Officer in the Department of Child and Adolescent Health and Development, World Health Organization (WHO), Geneva; the Senior Adviser, Youth Health, and Team Leader, Adolescent Development and Participation Theme Group, UNICEF, New York; Director of the Child Alive Programme, AIDS Coordinator and Head, Health Section, International Federation of Red Cross, and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), Geneva; and a Research Fellow, WHO Collaborating Centre for Refugee Health Care, Evaluation and Planning Centre, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London.
I have post-graduate training from both the UK and South Africa, where I worked as a Medical Officer and Deputy Superintendent, Benedictine Hospital, Nongoma, KwaZulu Natal; Senior Lecturer, Department of Comprehensive and Community Medicine, UCT, Cape Town; and a Senior Registrar, Paediatrics, King Edward VIII Hospital, Durban.
I was President of the International Association for Adolescent Health (2013-2016), a Member of the Governing Council of NCD Child (2013-2014) and a Founding Member of Health Unlimited (now Health, Poverty, Action).
Over the past 40 years I have gained extensive experience of working with a wide range of partners in many different settings/cultures, including academia/research and policy/programme development, in all geographic regions, but particularly in Africa. I have wide experience of working with different sectors, and of facilitating national, regional, and global processes to develop consensus and define priorities for action. I have been responsible for introducing new issues and strategies into UN and non-governmental organizations, managing individuals and activities, and developing a wide range of programme support tools.
I have published in peer reviewed journals and made presentations at international conferences on a variety of subjects, including adolescent health and development, adolescent sexual and reproductive health, HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment/care, school health, behaviour change, child health, primary health care, immunization, chronic illness and non-communicable diseases, refugee and emergency health and nutrition.
Dr Verena Gounden
Dr Verena Gounden MBChB (summa cum laude) University of Natal, FCPath (Chemical Pathology) College of Medicine South Africa, MMed (Chem Path) University of Witwatersrand, DABCC, PhD.
I am a founding member of Chemical Alert Africa and since 2016 have been Head of Department in the Department of Chemical Pathology, University of KwaZulu Natal.
I completed my undergraduate medical degree at the University of Natal. Following internship and community service I undertook specialist registrar training in chemical pathology at National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS) labs at the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic and Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospitals.
I completed my Fellowship in Chemical Pathology in 2009 and was awarded my Master’s in medicine in 2010 and joined the Department of Chemical Pathology at Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital (IALCH) as a consultant chemical pathologist in January 2011.
In 2012 I was awarded a fellowship at the National Institutes of Health Department of Laboratory Medicine in Bethesda, USA, where I spent two years. I completed my PHD in Medical Biochemistry in 2021. I am a diplomat of the American Board of Clinical Chemistry.
I have over 50 peer reviewed publications and book chapters and have a special interest in endocrinology and endocrine disruptors. In 2017 I was one of a small number of female scientists recognised by the Loreal-UNESCO Women in Science (Sub-Saharan Africa) for my PhD work, examining the effects of Bisphenol A (BPA) on maternal-child pairs.
Chloé F. Smith
LL.M. & Certificate of Specialization in Environmental Law (University of California, Berkeley), Bachelor (LLB/JD) & Masters of Law (University of Geneva, Switzerland and York University, Canada).
I joined the Board of Chemical Alert Africa in September 2024. I currently work as a Climate Change Research Fellow in the Climate Program at the Center for Law, Energy & the Environment (CLEE) at the UC Berkeley, School of Law on issues and solutions related to clean transportation climate policy.
I also work on an environmental health law and human rights project regarding military contaminated sites on indigenous land on the Island of Sivuqaq with Alaska Community Action on Toxics, an environmental justice organization in Alaska. I am a member of the Plastics and Health Working Group at Stanford University and of other non-profit organizations, including Avocat.e.s pour le Climat, a network of climate-sensitive attorneys in Switzerland.
Previously, I practiced law at the State Public Health Department in Switzerland and as a litigator in private law firms, along with pro bono projects in local and international NGOs.
Dr. Thabelo Rodney Mudau
PhD Public Health (University of Pretoria), Postgraduate Certificate in Pediatric Nutrition (Boston University School of Medicine), MSc in Dietetics & BSc in Dietetics (University of Limpopo – Medunsa Campus).
I joined the Board of Chemical Alert Africa in June 2025. I am a public health researcher and nutrition scientist with expertise in paediatric health, environmental health, and clinical dietetics. I am currently a research fellow at the University of Cape Town’s Centre for Environmental and Occupational Health Research (CEOHR), School of Public Health, where my work focuses on the impacts of environmental exposures on child health, alongside nutrition-related disease prevention.
With over a decade of professional experience spanning clinical, community, and academic settings, I previously served as a lecturer in Human Nutrition and Dietetics at the University of Pretoria, supervising master's research on maternal and child nutrition, severe acute malnutrition, and dietary risk factors for respiratory diseases. My research is widely published in peer-reviewed journals and has been presented at local and international conferences.
I am a former recipient of the SAMRC Bongani Mayosi National Health Scholars Programme funding and actively engage with government, civil society, and scientific institutions to translate research into policy and community health interventions.
Chemical Alert Africa Founding Board Members are Peter Templeton, Jessica Wilson, Dr Bruce Dick, Dr Verena Gounden, Ambassador Lucie Edwards, Professor Aqiel Dalvie and Karl Wirtz.