Professor Candice van Wyk has a joint appointment at the University of Pretoria (UP) as an adjunct professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences’ Department of Community Dentistry on Prinshof Campus. She is also Assistant Director of Oral Hygiene at Gauteng Health. Prof Van Wyk completed her undergraduate studies at UP and has been actively involved in research at the University for more than 15 years.

It is estimated that more than 20.4% of the South African population (about 7.7 million people) are HIV-positive. This makes them more susceptible to candidiasis (oral thrush), especially to strains that are resistant to commonly used antifungal remedies. Candidiasis treatment is complicated by the emergence of strains that are resistant to these widely used antifungal agents, which are also expensive and have toxic side effects.

There is therefore a need to develop natural products as antifungal agents that will be more freely available and can protect users against candida infections. Prof Van Wyk’s first PhD study screened indigenous plants not only for their antifungal activities, but also to isolate a new chemical entity that could either inhibit the growth of pathogens or kill them, and have little or no toxicity to host cells. Medicinal plants contain a variety of compounds with known therapeutic properties.

Prof Van Wyk is collaborating with colleagues from UP’s Department of Medical Microbiology, the Electron Microscopy Unit at the Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University, Onderstepoort Biological Products and a product specialist of Anatech Instruments.

In 2020 she completed her second PhD, in Medical Microbiology, and determined the mechanism of action of a novel isolated compound, obliquumol, against Candida albicans infection. Patents have been registered with the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) and in Europe, South Africa and the USA.

Prof Van Wyk hopes to find a natural product to combat oral candidiasis, such as an oral rinse that can be used by immunocompromised patients, especially those in rural areas who have HIV. She is well on her way to developing this patented compound into an antifungal oral hygiene product which, together with the clinical management of oral candidiasis, can be used in the clinical care of patients at UP’s Oral and Dental Hospital and as part of community outreach programmes.

Her advice to school learners and undergraduate students is to find their niche area and to have big dreams. “You are never too old to learn and to do research,” she says.

In her spare time, Prof Van Wyk enjoys gardening and landscaping, reading and hiking.