Presenter Bio

Malcolm Collins is a Professor within the Department of Human Biology at the University of Cape Town (UCT).

He obtained a BSc degree majoring in Biochemistry and Human Physiology from Stellenbosch University in South Africa.  In 1988 in received a BSc (Hons) degree Cum Laude in Biochemistry, also from Stellenbosch University, followed by a PhD in Medical Biochemistry on collagen gene expression from the UCT in 1993.

After completing Post-Doctoral work also in extracellular matrix protein gene expression at the University of Washington in Seattle, USA, he joined UCT’s and the South African Medical Research Council’s Research Unit for Exercise Science and Sports Medicine in Cape Town. Prof Collins’ doctoral and post-doctoral work in extracellular matrix biology, in particular collagen, gene expression, stimulated his current research focus on elucidating the molecular mechanisms causing common exercise-associated musculoskeletal soft tissue (tendons and ligaments) injuries.

He has developed a very productive research team at UCT, which has published several seminal papers on the identification of genetic risk associated factors for common tendon and ligament injuries. This UCT-based research group is currently internationally recognized as the pioneers and authority in this area of research. As a result, he has developed an international and national, interdisciplinary network of research collaborators, consisting of clinicians and scientists. He has supervised or is currently supervising, several post-doctoral fellows and nearly 40 masters and doctoral students. He has also published more than 150 peer-reviewed papers, review articles and book chapters. He has a B1 National Research Foundation rating, is a Fellow of the European College of Sport Science, a Fellow of the University of Cape Town, and Member of the Academy of Science of South Africa.