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Ruben Earl Ashley Cloete

Lecturer

South African National Bioinformatics Institute

ruben[at]sanbi.ac.za

rcloete91[at]gmail.com

I am currently a Lecturer at the South African National Bioinformatics Institute (SANBI) at the University of the Western Cape under supervision of Prof Alan Christoffels. My area of specialization include Structural Bioinformatics focussing on predicting three-dimensional structures of proteins, peptides and RNA, as well as molecular dynamic simulation and docking studies to identify inhibitors of enzymes. These approaches I have used successfully to identify novel drug targets in the genome of Mycobacterium Tuberculosis and drugs.

My scientific career started with a Bsc degree in Biodiversity and Ecology from the University of Stellenbosch. However, a keen interest in Human genetics resulted in me ending up at the Tygerberg Medical School, University of Stellenbosch.

Subsequently, i completed my Honours and Masters degree at the University of Stellenbosch in the Department Medical Biochemistry under supervision of Prof Valerie Corfield and Johanna Moolman-Smook. The result of my Honnours and Masters studies contributed to the understanding of the genetic risk factors that contribute to an inherited heart disease called “Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy”.