Cathy Van Rooyen MBChB, MMed

Dr. Cathy van Rooyen is the Head of the Immunology Laboratory at the Ampath National Reference Laboratory in Centurion. She has a special interest in allergy and allergy diagnostics. Through her involvement in laboratory testing, as well as through clinical consultation at the Ampath Diagnostic Referral Clinic for Allergies, she endeavors to help bring allergy diagnostics from the laboratory bench to the patient's bedside. Cathy completed her pre-graduate medical training at the University of Pretoria, after which she worked in public hospitals and clinics in Worcester and Sabie. During this time she completed courses in molecular and microbial genetics at the University of Pretoria on a part-time basis.

Dr. Cathy van Rooyen also attended Allergy Clinics at Groote Schuur Hospital, Red Cross Children’s Hospital, and 1 Military Hospital to prepare her for a career in allergy and immunology. She returned to the University of Pretoria for postgraduate training in Pathology (Virology), spending 1 day a week in the Immunology Department. She started an Allergy Clinic at the Institute for Pathology at the University of Pretoria, which provided diagnostic consultation, as well as allergen immunotherapy services to patients in the public and private sectors. Cathy interrupted her registrar training for a year to obtain further training as a registrar in Clinical Immunology and Allergy in the UK. She was appointed as registrar in Clinical Immunology at the Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, where she was trained in adult and pediatric allergy and immunology and was involved in outpatient clinics as well as in-patient care.