For Professor Candice Hendricks, scientific achievement has a practical purpose: helping more children receive treatment that could change their lives. A specialist paediatric haematologist and clinician scientist, she has devoted years to developing the expertise, research and collaborations needed to make paediatric bone marrow stem cell transplants more accessible in South Africa.
That work will reach a significant milestone on 2 November with the opening of a specialised paediatric haematology service, comprising a dedicated paediatric bone marrow stem cell transplant facility and a paediatric isolation facility at Netcare Pretoria East Hospital. Working closely with Dr David Brittain and his colleagues at the hospital’s well-established Alberts Cellular Therapy, Prof Hendricks will bring dedicated paediatric expertise and much-needed capacity to the transplantation service.
“This dedicated paediatric facility represents the opportunity to care for more children through a complex course of treatment. Building the service means bringing together the right expertise and support, with the child and their family at the centre of every decision,” says Prof Hendricks.
| Prof Candice Hendricks and her younger brother, Randall Hendricks, who received a bone marrow stem cell transplant for leukaemia at Netcare UCT Private Academic Hospital when he was 27. He has been in remission for 13 years. |
| For specialist paediatric haematologist and clinician scientist Prof Candice Hendricks, scientific achievement has a practical purpose: helping more children receive treatment that could change their lives. |
| Dr David Brittain of Alberts Cellular Therapy and Prof Candice Hendricks are working together to expand the transplantation service at Netcare Pretoria East Hospital, adding dedicated paediatric expertise and much-needed capacity. |
At 42, Prof Hendricks has already built a remarkable career spanning specialist clinical practice, doctoral research, international training and an extensive record of scientific publication. Personal experience brings another layer of insight to her work: her brother, Randall, received a bone marrow stem cell transplant for leukaemia at the age of 27 at Netcare UCT Private Academic Hospital and has been in remission for 13 years.
“When someone you love has had leukaemia, the importance of treatment becomes deeply personal. My brother’s recovery means so much to our family. Through my work, I hope to contribute where the need is especially great, improving access to stem cell transplantation for children in South Africa,” says Prof Hendricks.
An exceptional record with a clear purpose
Following in her father’s footsteps, Prof Hendricks qualified as a doctor in 2006, then specialised in paediatrics and, later, in paediatric clinical haematology. She completed her PhD in medical immunology at the University of Pretoria in 2024 and was appointed as an honorary professor in its Department of Medical Immunology in October 2025.
Prof Hendricks’ publication record includes more than 20 co-authored scientific papers in leading journals, with contributions that address questions ranging from the biology of blood-forming stem cells to donor availability, specialist training and equitable access to advanced treatments.
| Netcare Pretoria East Hospital general manager Jaco du Preez with Prof Candice Hendricks and nursing services manager Sr Sunel Barnard. |
| Prof Candice Hendricks and Dr Mariska Stander of Heroes Home, a dedicated paediatric haematology service that will open at Netcare Pretoria East Hospital on 2 November 2026. |
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“My doctoral research included investigating umbilical cord blood stem cells from HIV-exposed but uninfected babies and examining the effects of antiretroviral medicines on these cells,” she explains.
Prof Hendricks also contributed to international work on overcoming barriers to cellular therapies, including a chapter in the EU CAR-T Handbook, an open-access resource on immune cellular therapies for healthcare professionals covering the latest developments in this highly specialised field.
This breadth of research reflects the dual demands of her profession: understanding the science in depth while recognising what it takes to translate that knowledge into care. “As a clinician scientist, I want the questions we ask in research to make a difference to the children we treat. Scientific progress only achieves its purpose when the people, facilities and systems are in place for patients to benefit from it,” she says.
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Her pursuit of the expertise needed to help children with blood disorders has taken her to specialist training centres in Italy, India and the United Kingdom. In 2025, she passed the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation examination and currently serves on several specialist bodies, locally and internationally.
“My purpose in training abroad was always to bring that knowledge home. Learning from experienced teams helped me understand what it takes to build a dedicated children’s transplant service and how we could apply those lessons in South Africa,” adds Prof Hendricks.
Dr Erich Bock, managing director of Netcare’s hospital division, says her achievements reflect both exceptional ability and sustained dedication. “Prof Hendricks combines scientific brilliance with the discipline, hard work and compassion needed to turn knowledge into better care. Her research, international training and contribution to this crucial field are remarkable. It is an absolute honour for Netcare and, specifically, for Netcare Pretoria East Hospital to provide a home for this groundbreaking work, which will expand access to highly specialised treatment for children,” he says.
Responding to a substantial unmet need
In a paper on increasing access to paediatric stem cell transplantation, Prof Hendricks and her co-authors document South Africa’s limited transplant capacity in relation to the country’s considerable demand.
“Behind every discussion about access is a child and a family waiting for help. A treatment may exist, but that means little to a family who cannot reach it. Multiple challenges get in the way, such as too few suitable donors, delayed identification and referral of eligible children, long travel distances, socioeconomic inequality, insufficient infrastructure and the rarity of clinical expertise. We need to understand where those barriers are and work together to overcome them.
“Access cannot be addressed through scientific advances alone; we also need dedicated capacity and trained teams. This facility is a practical step towards helping more children reach appropriate treatment,” says Prof Hendricks.
Helping children understand their care
Prof Hendricks’ commitment to making specialist medicine more accessible extends to helping children understand their care. She co-founded Lusandi Medical Animations Studio, a non-profit initiative that uses animation to explain complex medical conditions to children and their caregivers in multiple South African languages, recognising that an explanation a child can understand is an important part of caring for them.
This next chapter, with the opening of the dedicated paediatric transplant and haematology facilities at Netcare Pretoria East Hospital, puts years of hard work into direct service for children and their families while giving her scientific achievements their most meaningful application for Prof Hendricks. “There is still so much to do, but opening this facility is an important step. My hope is that the work we do here will help more children receive the treatment they need and give more families the chance to look towards the future,” she concludes.
Ends.
More about Professor Candice Hendricks
Professor Candice Hendricks has trained in paediatric transplantation internationally at San Gerardo Hospital in Monza and completed observerships at King’s College Hospital, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children and Bhagwan Mahaveer Jain Hospital in Bangalore.
Scientific papers that she has co-authored have appeared in The Lancet Haematology, The Lancet HIV, and Gene Therapy and Bone Marrow Transplantation, among others.
Prof Hendricks’ contribution extends beyond her own research and practice. She chairs the national BloodSA and SAAPHO Paediatric Haematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation Working Party and the BloodSA Cell and Gene Therapy Working Party, helping specialists harmonise practices across South Africa. Prof Hendricks was appointed to the Ministerial Advisory Committee on cancer care and prevention in August 2025, and internationally, she serves as co-chair of the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation’s trainee committee and is a member of its equity, diversity and inclusion committee.
Her relationship with Netcare has supported the preparation behind the new five-bed dedicated paediatric stem cell facility at Netcare Pretoria East Hospital. The Netcare Physicians Partnership Trust’s Professor Bongani Mayosi Clinical Scholarship funded her doctoral training from 2019 to 2023 and was extended in 2024 to support her transplantation training. Her brother’s treatment at Netcare UCT Private Academic Hospital, an innovative collaboration between Netcare, the University of Cape Town Medical School, and Groote Schuur Hospital, adds a deeply personal connection for Prof Hendricks. Today, she also directs the processing facility at Alberts Cellular Therapy at Netcare Pretoria East Hospital.
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