Scholefield is the research group leader of the bioengineering and integrated genomics group at the CSIR.​

After completing her PhD in human genetics at the University of Cape Town (UCT), she spent three years as a Nuffield Medical Fellow at the University of Oxford. Since returning to South Africa, she has been specialising in cellular modelling of disease and was the first to establish induced pluripotent stem cell research in the country. Her research interest is in developing physiologically relevant cellular models of disease using advanced technologies, including super-resolution microscopy, stem cells and genome engineering, especially within the unique context of the diverse sub-Saharan African genetic background. In addition to leading the bioengineering and integrated genomics group lab, she holds a Senior Honorary Lectureship position in the Department of Human Biology at UCT, while steering the nature publication Gene Therapy as its editor-in-chief.​

Expertise: Induced pluripotent stem cell technologies; Gene engineering and expression