Two outstanding CPUT researchers have been selected as finalists in the NSTF-South32 Awards, known as the ‘Science Oscars’ of South Africa.

The awards celebrate the top South African minds in science, engineering and technology and winners will be announced at a gala dinner at Emperors Palace tonight (June 28).

The two finalists are Prof Tandi Matsha, who was recently awarded the National Research Foundation’s SARChI Research Chair in Cardiometabolic Health and Prof Jeanine Marnewick, who was recently appointed as Research Chair of the Institute of Biomedical and Microbial Biotechnology.

Matsha is the founder and lead researcher of CPUT’s Cardiometabolic Health Research Unit in the Faculty of Health and Wellness Sciences and was nominated in the category: TW Kambule-NSTF Awards: Researcher (contribution to research and its outputs over a period of up to 15 years as a researcher, predominantly in South Africa).

Her current research focuses on diabetes and cardiovascular risk in the coloured community of Bellville South.

Marnewick has made a concerted effort to get the word out about the research she is doing into how rooibos is useful as a way to reduce and protect against the impact of non-communicable diseases because of the tea’s antioxidant activity.

EXCELLENT: Prof Jeanine Marnewick

She heads up the Oxidative Stress Research Centre and was nominated in the category Communication for outreach and creating awareness of SET and innovation award.

Written by Ilse Fredericks
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.