Professor Irene Mackraj
Tel: +27 (031) 2607770
Email: mackraji@ukzn.ac.za
Campus: Westville
Research interests: Prof Mackraj’s main research focus is on the pathogenesis of hypertension, in particular the role of the renin-angiotensin system. She is involved the identification of blood pressure-lowering plants and their molecular basis of action in vivo. Prof Mackraj is currently involved as a principle investigator and collaborator in several other research projects, including Drug Delivery Systems in Pharmaceutics (UKZN), and the pathogenesis and treatment of Pre-eclampsia at the Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine. ResearchGate Profile
Professor Irene Mackraj is currently employed as a Professor in the Discipline of Human Physiology. She served as Academic Leader Teaching and Learning in the School of Laboratory Medicine and Medical Sciences at the Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine. She has extensive experience in teaching of Histology and all systems in Human Physiology, and Human Genetics. She has played a key leadership role in various aspects of curriculum development, design and implementation and accreditation processes.
Prof Mackraj is C 2 NRF rated researcher. She is a PI and collaborator on several grants and is the senior author in the majority of her publications. She has mentored several postgraduate students and young staff. Her main research focus area is in the field of Hypertension and more recently, sepsis. Currently she is investigating biomarkers in preeclampsia or pregnancy-induced hypertension in South
African women have made substantive contributions on unravelling the role of circulating and placental-derived exosomes in pathophysiology of preeclampsia. She also has research interests which include testing the efficacy of natural products and nano-encapsulated compounds in various biological models especially pertaining to hypertension.
Her most recent grant from the NRF focusses on revealing unique signatures from circulating exosomal cargo as biomarkers in sepsis. The identified molecular targets will constitute potential target for drug development and may help to define novel therapeutic strategies for sepsis. She has several international and local collaborations which includes the Nuffield Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Oxford, United Kingdom.
Prof Mackraj has a portfolio of community engagement activities with wide-ranging stakeholder engagement including local schools, Community-based organisations and initiatives involving food security programmes.