Professor Tahir Pillay is full Professor and Head of the Department of Chemical Pathology and overall Pathology Head, University of Pretoria & National Health Laboratory Service(NHLS),  Honorary Professor of Chemical Pathology, University of Cape Town (UCT) in South Africa.  He is immediate past President of the South African Association for Clinical Biochemistry and Laboratory  Medicine (SAACB). He is  also Chair of the Communications and Publication Division(CPD) of the International Federation of  Clinical Chemistry & Laboratory Medicine (IFCC), the first person from Africa to lead a division of the IFCC  in its 75 year history. He was previously head of Chemical Pathology at UCT and Deputy Vice Chancellor at the University of KwaZulu-Natal; Deputy Director, Institute of Cell Signalling, University of Nottingham, UK.  He currently holds the highest research ranking of any chemical pathologist in South Africa by the National Research Foundation, South Africa and one of  only  two full professors of chemical pathology in South Africa. He is a board member of the World Association of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine (WASPALM) and the Medical Research Council(MRC), South Africa. He is also one of only  two pathologists in South Africa who is an elected member of the Academy of Science of South Africa.

He has previously served on the International committee of the Royal College of Pathologists as country advisor for South Africa. He has served on the Publications Core Committee of the American Association of Clinical Chemistry (now the Association of Diagnostic Laboratory Medicine), the first member of an  AACC committee  from outside North America. Nationally, he has served as Ministerial appointee to the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) Medical and Dental Board (MDB); Council member of the College of Pathologists, SA and Senate member of the Colleges of Medicine, SA; member of the Postgraduate Education and Training committee, HPCSA MDB; chair of the Curriculum Committee and Standard Generating Body of the HPCSA-MDB; member of the Clinical Chemistry Expert committee, National Health Laboratory Service. He is also a member of the WHO Expert panel on Point-of-care testing (2022).

He has also served as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Clinical Pathology for two terms. Professor Pillay has an MBChB cum laude from the University of Natal and  a PhD in biochemistry from the University of Cambridge. He completed his postgraduate specialist training at Imperial College  and postdoctoral training in molecular and cellular endocrinology at University of California San Diego. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists, London and the College of Pathologists, South Africa. Professor Pillay’s research publications spans molecular cell biology of insulin signalling and insulin resistance, molecular modelling of ligand-receptor complexes and development of new diagnostic probes for laboratory diagnostics and toxicology using recombinant DNA technology. He is pioneering the increased application of single domain antibodies/nanobodies in pathology and laboratory medicine and forensic toxicology. His group received the first prize in the 2020 GAP Innovation award run by Emory University and TIA  for the development of a nanobody based  test for Covid-19.He is also a chapter contributor to the two  most prestigious textbooks in Clinical Chemistry and Lab Medicine – Tietz Textbook of Clinical Chemistry, 7^th ed (published Aug 2022) and Tietz Fundamentals of Clinical Chemistry (published in 2023).  He is also sole author of two 4-dimensional electronic books in laboratory medicine (“Practical Clinical Chemistry:core concepts”; “Interactive mathematics for laboratory medicine”) that have been released in 52 countries.

In 2023 and 2024, he has been listed in the Pathologist magazine  Power List as one of the Top 100 most influential people in pathology – specifically, as one of the Top 20 Champions for Change. In his spare time, he produces deep house and electronic dance music through his record label, DJ Kempat.