Professor Raal is a Distinguished Professor in the Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, as well as Director of the Carbohydrate and Lipid Metabolism Research Unit, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.

He is a NRF A-rated scientist and has authored or co-authored over 400 original articles and book chapters and has reviewed for several international journals including the New England Journal of Medicine, the Lancet, Circulation, and Atherosclerosis. He is on the Editorial Board of Atherosclerosis and a co-editor for Current Opinion in Lipidology.

Professor Raal is particularly interested in lipids and lipid disorders and has been integrally involved in the management of familial dyslipidemia, particularly heterozygous and homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (FH). The major focus of his research remains the clinical, biochemical, genetic and therapeutic management of this condition and he continues to conduct studies with novel therapies such as PCSK9-inhibitors and ANGPTL3-inhibitors in this patient group.