Himla Soodyall is the Executive Officer of the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf). She is a Research Professor in Human Genetics at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) and was Principal Medical Scientist at the National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS) previously. Soodyal has done ground-breaking genetic research into the peoples of sub-Saharan Africa in which her studies have identified some of the oldest DNA found in living people today, adding weight to the theory that modern humans evolved in the area now known as southern Africa.