Senior lecturer in the Department of Biomedical Sciences, Dr Samantha Meyer, delivered a plenary lecture at the International Conference on Nano Structured Materials and Nanocomposites (ICN 2025), recently held in India.

Meyer said she was deeply honoured when Prof Sabu Thomas, distinguished global scientist and former vice-chancellor of Mahatma Gandhi University (MGU) in Kerala, India, invited her.

The invitation came shortly after Meyer was awarded a C2-rating from the National Research Foundation (NRF).

Mahatma Gandhi University has been ranked 4th among Indian universities in the Times Higher Education Asia University Rankings 2025.

“This occasion was extremely special and poignant to me as India is the land of my ancestors. My great-grandparents came to South Africa as indentured labourers in the late 1800s. It was incredibly emotional for me to be the first person in my family lineage to visit India; the great-granddaughter of sugar-cane workers returning to her motherland to present her scientific research on a global stage.”

Meyer’s presentation was titled: Silver Nanoparticles Synthesized from Cotyledon orbiculata: Antimicrobial, Anti-Inflammatory and Wound Healing Effects.

Apart from being an invited plenary speaker at the conference, Meyer was also appointed as a session chairperson. These key roles at the conference give credence to her expertise and international standing in the field of Nanotechnology research. According to her Google Scholar profile, Meyer has been cited more than 1000 times in the literature.

The ICN 2025 conference included representation from universities, research institutes, and industries from around the world.

This diverse association created a rich environment for knowledge exchange, networking, and collaboration.

“It was an honour to represent CPUT at this global gathering of more than 350 participants. My presentation garnered much interest in both my research as well as our institution’s dynamic and beautiful campuses.”

Written by CPUT News
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The Biomedical Sciences Department is bridging the gap between graduates and industry.

The department has embarked on an ambitious project and launched a skills lab at the National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS) facility in Green Point.

The skills lab is aimed at third-year Biomedical Science students, who spend several months working at the lab in order to acquire specific practical skills sought after in industry.

This bold initiative forms part of a public-private partnership and has the buy-in of NHLS – the largest diagnostic pathology service in South Africa - and Pathcare, one of the country’s largest private pathology practices.

The skills-lab is also accredited by the Health Professions Council of South Africa.

Biomedical Sciences training co-coordinator, Trish Muller, says the idea for the labs came about after having conversations with industry role-players who identified their needs and the skills they felt graduates should have.

Equipped with instruments from Siemens and Abbot, the skills-lab offers CPUT students an opportunity to work with state-of-the-art equipment that is found in leading laboratories.

“We found that the programme assists students with basic training and instilling good laboratory practices. The training also offers real world experience and increases students’ confidence when venturing into the working world,” says Muller.

The skills-lab has been welcomed by CPUT students.

Student Samantha Meyer says that working in the skills-lab has assisted her with developing various skills in her field of study.

“We are able to learn practical skills and now feel confident when working with specimens and cultures,” she says.

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To address the critical shortage of qualified medical laboratory scientists in South Africa, CPUT's Biomedical Sciences Department has become the first in the country to offer a professional degree in Medical Laboratory Science.

The degree was approved by the Department of Higher Education and Training (DoHET), the Higher Education Quality Committee (HEQC), the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) and the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) to be offered as from January 2011.

CPUT will replace its three-year National Diploma: Biomedical Technology with the professional degree. According to Prof Johan Esterhuyse, Head of Department Biomedical Sciences, the degree has been structured so that it contains elements of both the National Diploma as well as BTech: Biomedical Technology.   Esterhuyse, who is also the national coordinator of the re-curriculation process says, "Offering such a degree will create better recognition of the qualification and also give us an opportunity to train highly qualified scientists. This degree will also open doors for our students and create more job opportunities as the qualification will give them better access to a greater job market globally." The professional degree will lead to further advanced levels of study towards Master's and Doctoral degrees.The department has also completed a new curriculum which has been approved nationally.  According to Esterhuyse, the new curriculum includes more integrated Pathophysiology and Molecular Biology, which is currently the new way of thinking in Biomedical Science.To keep everyone in the loop, the department has organised workshops to ensure that staff members know what is expected of them. "We would not have done this without the support we got from management and many other role players", added Esterhuyse.By:  Andiswa Dantile

Written by CPUT News
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Spain, Paris and Italy – These are just some of the destinations a group of South Africa university staffers and students can expect to jet-off to later this year.

Through the Erasmus Mundus Action 2 for South Africa (ema2sa) programme, a group of 52 South Africans will be selected to complete their master, doctoral or short study programmes at a European University.

Funded by the European Commission, the programme aims to develop and improve the skill base at South African universities.

Recently a delegation from Erasmus Mundus visited South Africa to promote the next call for applications and spent a morning interacting with CPUT staffers.

The coordinator of the programme, An Hunt, described the scholarship as a “win, win situation for everyone involved.”

She said the programme not only allows South Africans to improve their qualifications but also provides opportunities for networking, which could lead to collaborations in various areas in the higher education sector.

Director of International Affairs, Merle Hodges also urged CPUT staffers to apply for the scholarships.

“It is a wonderful opportunity to increase your qualifications and also expand your horizon and become a global thinker,” said Hodges.

On completion of the study programme recipients are required to return to South Africa and plough back into their institutions.

Last year several CPUT staff members were awarded scholarships, with some selected to complete their master degrees and others for short stay academic programmes.

Head of CPUT’s Biomedical Sciences Department Prof Johan Esterhuyse, was one of the lucky recipients of a scholarship, which saw him visit Antwerp University in Belgium and Han University College in Holland.

The visits enabled him to benchmark the new Medical Science Degree against similar international options.

Prof Esterhuyse said South African universities are in dire need of highly qualified academics and urged fellow staff members to improve their qualifications.

“Make use of this opportunity,” said Prof Esterhuyse.

For more information see www.ema2sa.eu

By Candes Keating

Written by CPUT News
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Three bright students will soon be jetting off to Norway where they will gain valuable skills and experience in their field as part of their work integrated learning experience.

Third year BHSc: Medical Laboratory Sciences students Erin Jacobs, Linah Mjuleni and Renaldo Pool will spend three months in Norway where they will be based in the city of Bergen. Prof Tandi Matsha, head of the Biomedical Sciences Department, says a two year grant was received from the UTFORSK partnership programme and this would enable the three students to travel to Norway for their training.

The three students said their studies had prepared them well for the experience and they were looking forward to the opportunity to develop and hone their practical skills. 
“In terms of theory I think we know what to do but I am expecting to learn a lot in Norway and to see how the Norwegians work in their labs and how they do things differently,” said Jacobs.
“This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. I have never even been on plane. This is going to be such a good learning curve. It will be good to explore what’s happening elsewhere in the world, for example certain diseases are more endemic in other countries,” says Mjuleni.

Pool said he looked forward to seeing the different techniques used in the laboratories in Norway.
“We could bring some of those techniques back and try to implement it here.”
The UTFORSK Partnership Programme supports project cooperation between higher education institutions in Norway and higher education institutions in Brazil, China, India, Japan, Russia and South Africa.

Written by Ilse Fredericks
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CPUT’s objective of providing students with hands-on training and practical skills has been bolstered through a partnership programme with a Norwegian institution.

The project would also seek to establish research collaborations between CPUT’s Biomedical Sciences Department and the Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, says Prof Tandi Matsha, Head of the Biomedical Sciences Department

She recently visited Norway with Microbiology lecturer and third-year co-ordinator, Yvonne Prince, while a team from Norway are scheduled to visit CPUT later in the year.

The project is aimed at developing best practice for training in biomedical laboratory sciences through educational and research collaboration between the institutions.

Matsha said a two-year grant was received from the UTFORSK partnership programme and this would enable three CPUT students to travel to Norway later this year as part of their Work Integrated Learning experience.

The UTFORSK Partnership Programme supports project cooperation between higher education institutions in Norway and higher education institutions in Brazil, China, India, Japan, Russia and South Africa.

The three students are on the BHSc: Medical Laboratory Sciences Programme.

Prince said the students would spent three months in Norway.

A further two students would be given the opportunity to go to Norway next year for Work Integrated Learning.

“An important part of the visit was to discuss areas for research collaboration and looking for funding for this jointly,” says Matsha.

While the students’ accommodation and flights would be covered, funding toward other expenses was still required.

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Written by Ilse Fredericks
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The Head of the Biomedical Sciences Department has been awarded a prestigious accolade - the National Research Foundation’s SARChI Research Chair in Cardiometabolic Health.

Prof Tandi Matsha, the founder and lead researcher of CPUT’s Cardiometabolic Health Research Unit, is the first recipient of a SARChI Research Chair in the Faculty of Health and Wellness Sciences.
Matsha said she felt privileged to have been recognised.
Her current research focuses on diabetes and cardiovascular risk in the coloured community of Bellville South and she said this was being expanded to include other population groups.

Matsha said the highlight of her career was when she was awarded a R8.3 million research grant in 2013 from the Medical Research Council’s (MRC) Flagship Project followed by a grant of more than R6 million in 2016 from the MRC’s Strategic Initiatives.
“This was important as it allowed our unit to be able to do the research we’re doing.”
The Acting Dean of the Faculty and Health and Wellness Sciences, Prof Penelope Engel-Hills, said Prof Matsha had worked tirelessly over a number of years to develop a research unit.

“The research area aligns with the United Nations, Sustainable Development Goal Number 3: Good Health and Well-being. Through this award, Prof Matsha and her team have been acknowledged for their potential to make a significant contribution to the production of new knowledge in a field that is of great importance to the well-being of individuals and that will impact on the public health agenda internationally.”
She said Matsha had created a research environment where postgraduate students from a number of disciplines could be successful.
“We look forward to a growing number of masters and doctoral students and post-docs being exposed to good research practice in her research unit,” said Engel-Hills.

Over the past five years, the Cardiometabolic Research unit has maintained a publication average of 10.5 per year, and the faculty anticipates that the award offers the opportunity to maintain and escalate this average, as the number of publications and scholarly research outputs will increase.

• The South African Research Chairs Initiative (SARChI) was established in 2006 by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and the National Research Foundation. The main goal of the Research Chairs initiative is to strengthen and improve research and innovation capacity of public universities for producing high-quality postgraduate students and research and innovation outputs.

Written by Ilse Fredericks
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Excellence was at the heart of the recent Faculty of Health and Wellness Sciences (FHWS) Teaching and Learning Awards, which also celebrated oneness and smartness.

The event, held at the Cape Town Hotel School, was attended by academic, administrative and clinical staff and was a testament to the high standard of learning, teaching and assessment in the faculty.

The following awards were made:

Departmental Teaching Excellence Awards 2023 - Dr Stanton Hector and Dr Samantha Meyer (Biomedical Sciences Department)

Recognition for Outstanding Secretary Award: Sanet Nothnagel (Biomedical Sciences)

Recognition for Outstanding Technician/ Clinical Instructor - Vera Baiden (Dental Sciences)

Recognition for Innovation in Teaching with Technology - Benjamin De Waal (Emergency Medical Sciences)

The faculty also recognised retiree Bridget Wyrley-Birch from the Medical Imaging and Therapeutic Sciences Department.

The keynote address was delivered by Prof Penelope Engel-Hills, who spoke on the topic: Embracing Innovation: Transforming Health Sciences Education in South Africa. She encouraged colleagues “to reflect on our own innovative teaching and learning practices” and to “embrace innovation”.

The event was arranged by Faculty Teaching and Learning Coordinator Anthea Pinto-Prins, and members of the Faculty Teaching and Learning Committee.

“We as the FHWS wish to extend our gratitude to Dr Xena Cupido and the team at Fundani: CHED for allowing us to make this special occasion possible through the UCDP,” said Pinto.

Written by Ilse Fredericks
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