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Launch of Three Major Projects at the Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine
UKZN Public Affairs and Communications. November 2006.
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Three major projects were unveiled at the University of KwaZulu-Natal?’s Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine?’s campus in Umbilo Road on the 7th November by Professor Malegapuru Makgoba, Vice-Chancellor and Principal.
A bronze cast sculpture of Nelson Mandela commissioned by staff and graduates of the medical school was unveiled in the foyer of the Main Medical School Building. This was followed by the announcement of the establishment of two significant Programmes aimed to develop a nucleus of African medical scientists: the Hasso Plattner Medical Research Fellowships and the Mokgokong Medical Fellowships will provide infrastructural support and mentorship to develop and train African scientists at the medical school.
?“This event highlights the Nelson R Mandela school of Medicine?’s commitment to transformation through top academic performance,?” said the Dean, Professor Willem Sturm.
The sculpture which was commissioned in 2004 followed a highly successful fundraising appeal to graduates and staff at the Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine. The sculpture signifies the tremendous respect and humility that the medical school community has for Mr Mandela, Said Prof Makgoba. ?“His values and principles must embody all that we do at the Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine.?” On 29 July 2000, the school which is well known for its outstanding research, was named after nobel laureate Nelson Mandela.
Following a R10 million donation by the Hasso Plattner Foundation to advance research in HIV and to appoint academic experts in HIV/AIDS six Fellowships have been awarded and research in a range of HIV/AIDS studies from a vaccine programme to the development of in vitro methods to scientifically validate traditional medicines are underway. The Hasso Plattner Medical Research Fellowships has facilitated the appointment of Professor Thumbi Ndung?’u, former Laboratory Director and Senior Research Scientists at the Botswana Harvard Partnership in Gaberone, His research interests are in HIV diversity and the implications of diversity for transmission, disease pathogenesis, therapeutic interventions and vaccine design.
Named after one of the University?’s most accomplished alumni, the Mokgokong Medical Fellowships Programme aims to address the growing paucity of medical scientists ?– particularly African medical scientists ?– in South Africa and throughout the continent. The Programme will partner emerging local medical researchers of high caliber with more established scholars from the African continent and abroad. Over a three-year period, each pair of Fellows ?– the African Fellow and the International Fellow will work collaboratively on a mutually designed programme of research, with KwaZulu-Natal as the primary clinical and field site.
Professor Leana Uys, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the College of Health Sciences said that ?“by harnessing the expertise of established international scholars, and partnering them with local researchers, the Programme will both reinforce the School?’s growing status as a premier site for the interface between international and African medical scholarship. This will contribute significantly towards developing a new cadre of African scientists and role-models?”.
The first Mokgokong fellow is Professor Roland Edgar Mhlanga, who is currently the Professor of Community Obstetrics at the Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine. He plans to focus his research programme on maternal mortality in Africa, working in four countries with an international mentor from Sweden.
Executive Director, Professor Dasarath Chetty said that the initiatives bear testimony to the University?’s commitment to the advancement of African Scholarship. |
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