Dr Sarentha Chetty is a senior lecturer in pharmacology in the Department of Pharmacy at the University of KwaZulu-Natal and a visiting senior lecturer at the University of Witwatersrand. She has extensive experience as a community and hospital clinical pharmacist in both the UK and South Africa, and has also worked as a clinical trials pharmacist at the Centre for the Aids Program and Research in South Africa (CAPRISA). In addition, she has served as an executive member of the KwaZulu-Natal Antimicrobial Stewardship (AMS) Committee.
Dr Chetty holds a Bachelor of Pharmacy (BPharm) from Rhodes University, an MSc in Molecular Biology of Infectious Diseases from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and a PhD from the University of Nottingham. She further enhanced her expertise by completing postdoctoral fellowships in medicinal and computational chemistry at the University of Nottingham and the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
Dr Chetty’s research is in medicinal chemistry, clinical pharmacy and pharmacy practice. Her research interests are centred on infectious diseases, including HIV, tuberculosis (TB), bacterial, and fungal infections. She is particularly focused on improving rational medicine use through antimicrobial stewardship and strengthening health systems in hospitals and community pharmacies to improve clinical outcomes for patients. Dr Chetty is also deeply invested in the scholarship of teaching and learning, researching innovative methods to advance health sciences education.
In 2020, she was awarded MRC SIR grant to further her work in antimicrobial stewardship. A dedicated mentor, Dr Chetty supervises postgraduate students at the honours, master’s, and PhD levels, and actively collaborates with national health bodies, academic institutions, and the National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS). Her work has been presented at national and international conferences, and she serves as an external examiner and a reviewer for various academic journals.
