After completing her PhD in Human Genetics at the University of Cape Town (UCT), Janine Scholefield spent three years as a Nuffield Medical Fellow at the University of Oxford. Since returning to South Africa she has specialised in cellular modelling of disease by being the first to establish induced pluripotent stem cell research in the country. Her research interest is in developing physiologically relevant cellular models of disease using advanced technologies, including stem cells and genome engineering, especially within the unique context of the diverse sub-Saharan African genetic background. Her primary focus is currently in creating models that predict how drugs are differently metabolised in African populations as a result of unique genetic contributions.

She is a Research Group Leader at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research and holds honorary lectureship positions in the Department of Human Biology at UCT, and in the Department of Human Genetics at Wits. In addition, she is the Editor-in-Chief for the Springer Nature journal Gene Therapy. Janine is particularly engaged in promoting African research and its scientists by building collaborative networks from within the continent across the globe.