Dr Gem George-Tharakan completed her undergraduate training in Medicine at UNITRA, current WSU, Eastern Cape. She fulfilled her internship in the Western Cape, at 2 Military Hospital. She thereafter returned to the Eastern Cape where she did her community service and thereafter worked as a medical officer at the Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital, Mthatha. It was during that time that she developed a passion for Haematology. She relocated to Pretoria where she completed her postgraduate training in Haematopathology at the University of Pretoria. She worked and lectured as a specialist consultant after which she relocated to undergo her training as a super-specialist in Clinical Haematology at Tygerberg Hospital, Capetown. She currently works at ACT Pretoria East Haematology Centre, with a weekly outreach clinic in Witbank, Mpumalanga.

Dr George-Tharakan has an interest in both benign and malignant haematological disorders, treating patients encompassing this spectrum with the latest and most affordable therapies available in the market. She has also been a member of MASAC/ the South African Haemophilia Fund (SAHF), the South African Society of Haematologists (SASH) and SASCeTS (South African Stem Cell Transplantation Society).

In her spare time, she enjoys reading, writing, cooking, and travelling.