Prof Oluwafemi Oguntibeju in the Department of Biomedical Sciences has maintained his C3 National Research Foundation (NRF) rating.

Oguntibeju’s rating application outcome was confirmed recently by the NRF in an email to the university, and the new rating will be valid from January 2018.

While he was expecting an improved rating, he says he’s happy about having maintained his previous rating.

He says the rating will put him in good stead for additional funding for his research on diabetes and medicinal plants.

“I secured an NRF grant last year to support postgraduate students who are mainly South African.”

He adds that the quality of his research has improved and that he is grateful for the grant that made all of it possible.

“CPUT is proving to build positively on its NRF-rated researcher cohort every year, we deliberately choose to celebrate every new rating that our researchers obtain simply because it is directly aligned with CPUT’s vision, its institutional strategy, and in particular, its RTI Blueprint 2020 in which we commit, amongst others, to build a reputation for research and innovation,” says Prof Dina Burger, Director: Research.

“Every NRF-rated researcher is a significant contribution to our increasing reputation for research and innovation and, in so doing, we are gradually becoming an institution that will contribute to the development agendas of South Africa, Africa and beyond.”

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

Two Medical Laboratory Sciences students are looking forward to broadening their horizons and gaining valuable practical skills during a work-integrated learning stint in Norway.
Bright sparks Heibrecht Fielies and Thobekile Leyane, who have never travelled outside South Africa, will be jetting off to Bergen, Norway in August as part of the UTFORSK Partnership Programme. 

The programme supports project cooperation between higher education institutions in Norway and higher education institutions in Brazil, China, India, Japan, Russia and South Africa.
Fielies and Leyane, who are both in their third year, were selected based on their academic record and a motivation that they wrote.

“I look forward to everything Norway has to offer from the work experience to going hiking,” said Fielies.

While Fielies and Leyane are planning their trip six students from the Western Norway University of Applied Sciences have just completed their stay at the Department of Biomedical Sciences.

While at CPUT the Norwegian students were divided into two groups and participated in two pilot studies into certain aspects of diabetes, which forms part of a larger study spearheaded by Prof Tandi Matsha, founder and lead researcher of CPUT’s Cardiometabolic Health Research Unit.

“The first’s group’s focus was on looking for different gene variants that causes diabetes in young people,” said co-supervisor Dr Stanton Hector.

“We also recently bought a new genetic analysis machine that tests for imprints on DNA that influence gene expression. The second group did a pilot study to troubleshoot and optimise the machine.”

Matsha said the CPUT students were the second cohort to participate in the programme, which also includes staff exchanges.

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

Staff members from the Department of Biomedical Sciences were recently invited onboard the Statsraad Lehmkuhl where they shared their experiences of a collaboration with the Western Norway University of Applied Science (HVL).

The department’s collaboration with HVL dates back to 2008 when a memorandum of understanding was signed which allows students from CPUT to spend three months in Norway doing a clinical placement and Norwegian students to come to Cape Town to do a combination of a clinical placement and mini research project,” said Assoc Prof Glenda Davison, head of the Department.

In 2016, Prof Tandi Matsha, the former head of the department, together with colleagues from HVL applied for the UTFORSK grant which enabled the two universities to expand their collaboration and explore platforms for joint research projects.

This resulted in a joint publication which was the first study examining the incidence of HNF1A and GCK Mature Onset Diabetes of the young (MODY) variants in a South African population.

Davison continued the collaboration and except for 2021, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, CPUT continued to host exchange students.

“To date, the two universities have had a 15-year relationship in which 28 Norwegian students and 14 South Africans have benefited from this international exchange,” said Davison.

During the recent event onboard the Statsraad Lehmkuhl staff from the Department shared their experiences. This included, Davison who conducted a presentation, Dr Yvonne Prince who has been instrumental in welcoming the Norwegian students and ensuring that all the arrangements and clinical placements for the exchange run smoothly as well as senior lecturer Dr Stanton Hector. Dr Shanel Raghubeer and Dr Saarah Davids also attended and are researchers in the SAMRC/CPUT Cardiometabolic Health Research unit and have supervised the Norwegian students in their research.

The Statsraad Lehmkuhl is a training ship which was built in 1914 and is currently doing a circumnavigation of the world to raise awareness about the role of the oceans in sustainable development. Part of the visit to Cape Town was to explore North-South collaborations and how the world can work together to achieve the 17 sustainable development goals.

“Being on board this beautiful ship was a very special experience. It was uplifting to meet academics from other universities around South Africa as well as Norway who were all working together to make a difference not only in research but also in both tertiary education and schools. For me, the most important message was that if the world works together and shares skills and ideas, we can achieve anything. Overall, the visit was a positive experience and we left motivated to continue and expand our collaboration with HVL,” said Davison.

Written by Ilse Fredericks

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

The Department of Biomedical Sciences recently collaborated with the South African Bone Marrow Registry (SABMR) for the annual Bone Marrow Drive at the Bellville Campus.

The SABMR helps to find matching donors for patients needing a bone marrow transplant and who do not have a match within their own families.

Biomedical Sciences lecturer, Rizqa Siebritz, said the Bone Marrow Drive aims to bring awareness of the importance of being a donor in the hope of giving someone else a better tomorrow.

“My students in the Haematology II Biomedical Sciences Department volunteer to assist in spreading awareness of the bone marrow donation process and how easy it is to become a donor.”

Nadia Chalkley, head of donor recruitment for the SABMR, said drives like the one at CPUT were critical “because it helps us really focus in terms of the demographic we want to recruit to our registry”.

“The South African Bone Marrow Registry , even though we have 78 000 current donors, [they] are predominantly Caucasian, and we really need to diversify if we want to service all our patients in South Africa and in Africa. So, not only diversifying the registry in demographic terms, but giving patients a better outcome, really is what this is about. And it's obviously always wonderful working with CPUT, they're so efficient in the implementation of the service-learning agreement that it makes sense for us to partner with CPUT through events like this, through lectures and hopefully more to come this year.”

The Bone Marrow Drive was followed by a virtual online talk by Canadian partner, Sylvia Okonofua, from Black Donors Save Lives. It was titled: “A needle in a haystack: What are the odds it’s going to be you?”

The aim was to highlight the importance of diversity and inclusivity in the donor population in order to increase the chances of finding donors for patients in the same genetic pool.

Other partners in the drive included:

• Childhood Cancer Foundation (CHOC)
• Organ Donor Foundation (Save Seven Lives)
• Vitanova (Tissue Bank)
• Western Cape Blood Services.
• CPUT Student Counselling
• CPUT HIV/Aids Unit

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