Two postdoctoral fellows at the SA Medical Research Council/CPUT Cardiometabolic Health Research Unit and a recent PhD graduate have been awarded the SAMRC Extramural Postdoctoral Programme fellowship.
They are Dr Cecil Weale, Dr Don Matshazi and Dr Dipuo Motshwari.
The application was open to candidates interested in pursuing a postdoctoral fellowship at any one of the 28 SAMRC extramural units, based at various universities in South Africa.The trio have been awarded the fellowship for a period of two years while being based at the SAMRC/CPUT Cardiometabolic Health Research Unit under the supervision of directors, Prof Tandi Matsha and Prof Glenda Davison. Motshwari, whose PhD in Biomedical Sciences was conferred during the recent Autumn Graduation series, said she was born and raised in a small rural town in Limpopo, called Soekmekaar.
She said her PhD journey was not a smooth ride.
“During my first year of study, I lost my mother and, like everyone in the world, between 2020 and 2022, was affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, which resulted in the complete change of my PhD project. However, despite these challenges, I still managed to persevere, publishing four manuscripts and a book chapter in peer-reviewed journals, as well as presenting at both local and international conferences.
In April 2023, I graduated with a PhD in Biomedical Sciences, and this would not have been possible without the guidance and support of my supervisors, Dr Cindy George and Professor Tandi E Matsha, to whom I am eternally grateful
”She expressed her gratitude to the SAMRC for awarding her the fellowship.
Her current research interests entail identifying non-invasive or minimally invasive, affordable and highly sensitive diagnostic tools, that will allow for early identification of chronic kidney disease in a South African cohort.
Weale, who hails from Zimbabwe, said he was grateful and appreciative to have been awarded “such a prestigious fellowship”.His research focus is on cardiometabolic health – specifically, developing innovative approaches for risk stratification, prevention of disease progression amongst those at high risk, as well as improving detection and management, through the development of population-specific biomarkers.
Matshazi, who is also from Zimbabwe, said he was deeply indebted to the SAMRC for awarding him the fellowship.
“It is further proof of their unwavering dedication to developing research capacity through training and support of early career researchers, which can only bode well for the research community in South Africa and the communities we serve.
“Additionally, to be chosen amongst a highly competitive cohort of young scientists in South Africa fills me with great pride and joy. In many ways, I feel it is testament to the invaluable mentorship and guidance from my supervisors, Prof Tandi Matsha and Prof Glenda Davison and collaborators Prof Rajiv Erasmus and Prof Andre Kengne.”
Elaborating on his research focus, he said current diagnostic methods for hypertension and diabetes do not allow early diagnosis of these diseases.
“This means that a lot of people only get diagnosed when the disease has progressed to target organ damage. As much, my research focuses on leveraging epigenetics to identify novel biomarkers for screening and early diagnosis of hypertension and diabetes, as well as possible development of new therapeutic targets.”
Written by Ilse Fredericks
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