Meet Our Team
Led by Dr Gail Ashford, our multidisciplinary team is united by a shared commitment to compassionate, respectful care that reflects the lived realities of South Africans. Working closely together, we support you through every stage of your health journey with understanding, discretion, and clear guidance.
Meet Dr Gail Ashford
Specialist Family Physician and HIV Specialist
Qualifications: MBBCh (Wits), FCFP (SA), DMH (SA), and Dip HIV Man (SA)
Qualifications in plain English: MBBCh – undergraduate medical degree, FCFP: Fellow of the College of Family Physicians – or as Americans say, “ board certified Specialist Family Physician”, DMH: Diploma in Mental Health, and Dip HIV Man: Diploma in HIV Management
Dr Gail Ashford is a Specialist Family Physician with a dedicated focus on chronic conditions, specifically HIV. Since 2003, she has cared for both adults and children living with HIV, with a special passion for supporting pregnant women, preventing mother-to-child transmission, and improving outcomes for families.
She runs a private practice at Wits Donald Gordon Medical Centre in Parktown, Johannesburg (but also offering follow-up Telehealth consultations as many of her patients travel from far and wide). She works closely with a multidisciplinary team to provide both inpatient and outpatient care. Dr Ashford has also been a key contributor to the Obstetric ARV Clinic at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital since its opening in 2004, offering high-level care to women with complex pregnancies, advanced HIV, and virological failure.
Over the years, she has built a career centred on Family HIV Care, with particular interests in prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT), safe contraception, nutrition, and managing metabolic complications of HAART and menopause related issues. Beyond her clinical work, Dr Ashford serves as an executive member of the South African Academy of Family Physicians (SAAFP) subgroup called Specialists Family Physicians in Private Practice <link> (SFPP) [link to SFPP website].
In addition, she contributes and is a founding clinician of the Obstetrics ARV Clinic at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital, ensuring her practice remains deeply connected to the realities of HIV care in South Africa. This clinic was started in 2004, at a complex time in South Africa’s history, where the government was compelled by activists and constitutional court pressure to provide a national HIV treatment rollout, but initially omitted pregnant women beyond 34 weeks of gestation from accessing HIV treatment. This clinic at Bara was initially started to enable access to care for pregnant HIV positive women in late pregnancy who would otherwise have been excluded from care. This was also at a time when the South African government, headed by President Thabo Mbeki, actively funded and supported AIDS denialism.
Currently, Gail is a member of the executive committee of Specialist Family Physicians in Private, a subgroup of the South African Academy of Family Physicians. This committee is advocating for recognition and remuneration of Specialist Family Physicians in the Private Sector, as there is a long-standing disparity (Specialist Family Physicians in the Public Sector are recognised, appointed and remunerated as Specialists, while in the Private Sector they have been traditionally forced to work as General Practitioners without recognition of their specialist skills and distinct offering).
Gail is married to her husband, Tim, a pediatric gastroenterologist. They have two children, three dogs, many chickens and other pets, and love to spend time in nature and outdoors running and cycling.
Meet Zamo Mbele
Clinical Psychologist
Qualifications: M.A.Clin.Psych.(Wits)
Zamo Mbele is a registered clinical psychologist, corporate wellness consultant, and candidate psychoanalyst with over a decade of experience across public, private, and non-profit sectors. He currently serves as Senior Clinical Advisor to October Health and maintains a private practice at the Wits Donald Gordon Medical Centre.
Zamo has led clinical strategy and innovation in digital mental health, served as Chief Clinical Officer at October Health, and continues to contribute as an educator, supervisor, and consultant to corporate organisations and public mental health systems. His clinical interests lie in adult psychotherapies, depth-oriented work, and professional coaching — with a focus on supporting individuals in navigating personal development, meaning-making, and professional growth.
Meet Carmin Wright
Occupational Therapist
Qualifications: BSc Anatomy & Physiology (Wits); BSc Occupational Therapy (Wits); Diploma in Hand Therapy (UP)
Carmin Wright graduated as an Occupational Therapist from WITS University in 2007 and completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Hand Therapy at the University of Pretoria in 2009. Since 2008, she has specialised in upper limb and neurological rehabilitation.
She began her career at Charlotte Maxeke Academic Hospital, working in the hand unit with the Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and Orthopaedic Surgery departments. Carmin later became the Chief Hand Therapist at the hospital, consulting closely with doctors on complex patient cases.
In 2013, she established her private practice, now based at Wits Donald Gordon Medical Centre. Here, she continues her specialisation in hand and neurological rehabilitation while working as part of the multidisciplinary team at Feeling Positive Physical and Mental Health, alongside Dr Gail Ashford and Zamo Mbele. Passionate about sharing her knowledge, Carmin lectures on hand conditions, presents at national and international conferences, and contributes to academic publications.