He graduated from medical school in South Africa and completed his Ph.D. at the University of Cambridge in England in the laboratory of Dr. Martin Lockwood where he studied T cell regulation and neutrophil activation in systemic vasculitis. Subsequently, he trained as a clinical fellow in this Renal Section and then worked as a research fellow in immunology with Dr. Ann Marshak-Rothstein in the Department of Microbiology at Boston University. His research on the role of Toll-like receptor in autoimmunity, and SLE in particular, has received widespread international recognition. His research is funded by grants from the NIH, Lupus Research Institute and National Kidney Foundation.