Eftyhia Vardas

Eftyhia Vardas FC Path is an honorary extraordinary professor in medical virology at the Department of Medical Virology, University of Stellenbosch, and head of virology at Lancet Laboratories in Johannesburg. She is a member of the COVID-19 Ministerial Advisory Committee to the South African minister of health.

Education Vardas graduated from the University of the Witwatersrand (UoW) with a BSc in medical physiology and subsequently received her MBBCh, followed by DTM&H and DPH. She is an honorary extraordinary professor in medical virology at the Department of Medical Virology, University of Stellenbosch, and head of virology at Johannesburg's Lancet Laboratories, where, in November 2021, observations of a new SARS-CoV-2 virus led to the discovery of Omicron.

Her past research has included trials on developing therapeutic vaccines for HIV/AIDS, hepatitis B vaccines and human papilloma virus vaccines.

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