25-26 March 2026 - Sandton Convention Centre
Professor Derman is the Head of the Division of Sport and Exercise Medicine (DiSEM) at Stellenbosch University. He is currently a co-director of the IOC Research Centre in South Africa, serves on the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Medical Committee and heads up one of two FIFA Medical Centre’s of Excellence in Africa. His research focuses on the secondary prevention of chronic diseases of lifestyle, and injury and illness prevention in athletes including those with disabilities.
He has had a long and productive career where he has played an important role in the training of sports physicians, exercise scientists and biokineticists. Professor Derman has provided expert clinical support for South Africa’s athletes at an international level.
In 2002, he served as Flight Surgeon to Cosmonaut Mark Shuttleworth during the “First African in Space” mission in Russia and served as the Medical Officer for Cape Town for the FIFA 2010 World Cup. He fulfilled the positions of Chief Medical Officer for the South African Team to the Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004 Olympic Games, and Medical Officer for the South African Paralympic Team to Beijing 2008 and London 2012. More recently, he took on the role of Medical Director for the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.
