After completing her Masters in Plant Genetic Resources at the University of Birmingham, England, United Kingdom, Professor Helen Malherbe relocated to Rome Italy and worked in International Agricultural Development for five years (1993-1998) at the International Plant Genetic Resource Institute (IPGRI), now Bioversity International, primarily for the Regional Office for Europe. In 1999, she relocated to Johannesburg, South Africa and after a year (2001) teaching at a private High School, she initially consulted (2002-2003) and was then permanently employed by the South African Agency for Science and Technology Advancement (SAASTA/NRF) from 2003-2008 both as a Biotechnology Communication Specialist and as Manager of the Science Communication Unit. For the five subsequent years (2008-2012) she worked as a Science Communication Consultant, with clients including government departments, parastatals and private industry.
Following the loss of her first-born child to a rare disease in 2004, Prof Malherbe joined the rare disease community, and led Genetic Alliance South Africa, a health related NPO formally known as the Southern African Society of Human Genetics (SASHG) - SAIDA from 2014-2019, which integrated with Rare Diseases South Africa NPC in April 2020, where she is now Director of Research and Epidemiology.
In parallel to her involvement in the rare disease community, in 2013, Prof Malherbe moved into the academic field of human genetics and medical genetics and initiated her PhD at the University of KwaZulu Natal (UKZN), South Africa. Following completion in 2017, she undertook four years of post-doctoral research at University of KwaZulu Natal (UKZN), followed by a year as a senior post-doc at the University of Pretoria, during which time she up-skilled in health economics and decision modelling. In January 2023 Helen was appointed as Extraordinary Associate Professor, Centre for Human Metabolomics, North-West University, South Africa. Through her combined academic research and ongoing patient advocacy roles, Prof Malherbe is involved in numerous national/international fora, supervises post-graduate students, and has published extensively in peer-reviewed literature. The role of her research is to develop an evidence-base to inform and underpin advocacy efforts both in South Africa and globally, to improve community genetic services for all those impacted by rare diseases and congenital disorders.
