Company Profile

"MARTI TB Diagnostics (Pty) Ltd is a venture of
the University of Pretoria, South Africa.
Our mission is to save lives globally by taking the MARTI point-of-care diagnostic to the global public and private healthcare sectors."

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Award: MARTI won first prize at the 2023 SEDA Provincial Pitch for Funding Campaign

The Board

Mr Naeem Moolla
Director
Mr Naeem Moolla holds a MCom degree in Accounting Sciences from the University of Pretoria and is a registered Chartered Accountant (SA). He has served on the boards and audit committees of several organisations and is the Chairman of the PURCO SA Board. He is currently Executive Director: Finance and Business Initiatives of the University of Pretoria.

Prof Sunil Maharaj
Director
Prof Sunil Maharaj is the Vice-Principal: Research, Innovation and Postgraduate Education of the University of Pretoria. He was previously the Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, Built Environment and Information Technology and before that the Head of Department of Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering at UP. Since 2017 he has been the Chair of the board of TuksNovation, a hi-tech business incubator and accelerator.
He has more than 33 years combined experience in industry (as a microwave and RF design engineer), academia and consulting. He holds a PhD Engineering and is a professional engineer registered with the Engineering Council of SA, a Fellow of the SA Academy of Engineering, Fellow of the SA Institute of Electrical Engineers and Senior Member of IEEE. Prof Maharaj is author of more than 170 conference and journal articles, 2 patents and winner of several awards.

The Team

Mr Gerrie Mostert
Chief Executive Officer
Gerrie has experience in founding of high-tech start-up companies and specialises in the commercialisation of intellectual property. He holds a degree in chemical engineering from the University of Pretoria and a Master of Business Leadership from the University of South Africa.

Mr Carl Baumeister
Head of Operations
Carl is co-inventor of the EIS diagnostic technique and its point-of-care hardware. He has more than 10 years' hands-on experience with all aspects of the MARTI diagnostic. Carl has a Masters degree in biochemistry from the University of Pretoria, where he is currently a PhD candidate. He holds an MBA from the GIBS Institute of Business Science.

Prof Jan Verschoor
Chief Scientific Advisor to MARTI
Emeritus professor of biochemistry and immunology; former head of the Department of Biochemistry, University of Pretoria. Prof Verschoor obtained the degrees BSc, BSc (hons) and MSc all with distinction from the University of Pretoria, followed by DSc on development of immuno diagnostics. He has more than 40 years experience in scientific research and teaching. He is co-inventor of at least 10 patents pertaining to TB diagnostics and co-author of more than 23 scholarly publications in the field of TB, all in peer-reviewed science journals or books. Prof Verschoor is a former deputy chair of the CSIR Ethics Committee and is currently chair of the research ethics committees of AMPATH Laboratories Human Research and Biorepository and Disease Control Africa.

Prof Veronica Ueckerman
Chief Clinical Advisor
Prof Ueckermann is Head of Infectious Diseases in the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Pretoria and at Steve Biko Academic Hospital. She obtained the degrees MBChB and MMed (Internal Medicine) both with distinction from the University of Pretoria and a PhD in infectious diseases, also from the University of Pretoria. Prof Ueckermann has a CMSA Certificate in Critical Care and completed a clinical research fellowship at Harvard University.

Ms Mosa Molatseli
Senior Research Scientist
Mosa obtained the degrees BSc, BSc (hons) and MSc in biochemistry with distinction from the University of Pretoria. She also obtained a Post-Graduate Diploma in Public Health in 2025. Ms Molatseli has extensive experience of the EIS analytical method in addition to her experience creating monoclonal antibodies. She currently oversees the analytical programme in MARTI's laboratory.

Ms Nomthandazo Khuboni
Research Scientist

Nomthi obtained her BSc and BSc (hons) in biochemistry from the University of Zululand and her MSc in Biochemistry from the University of Pretoria. She oversees sample presentation procedures to ensure all laboratory operations are conducted effectively and performs quantitative analysis. She is a core member of the team who participates in the clinical studies being conducted in MARTI’s lab.

Mr Thoriso Sesing
Research Scientist

Thoriso obtained his BSc and BSc (hons) in genetics at the University of Pretoria. He is currently enrolled for UP's MSc program in biochemistry. TK is a core member of the team conducting clinical studies and optimizing performance of the diagnostic. He is also responsible for implementation of quality control systems to ensure efficient operations of the laboratory and conducts environmental monitoring of MARTI’s laboratory in accordance with the regulatory requirements.

Clinical associates

Hope Mtshali
Clinical Associate
Hope obtained her Bachelor of Clinical Medical Practice (BCMP) from the University of Pretoria. She also has a certificate in Good Clinical Practice (GCP). Hope identifies potential study participants daily, obtains informed consent, and collects specimens. She is also responsible for specimen processing in the lab, as well as maintaining patient records for studies.