Moving African Science

If Science in Africa is to have a flagship, a glass and concrete symbol of what it is and what it is capable of achieving, the University of the Western Cape’s new Life Sciences building would have few contenders.

Situated at the southern tip of the vast continent, the research activities which it houses spread their positive influence to the Sahara, and beyond.

UWC’s Deputy vice Chancellor: Professor Ramesh Bharutram Academic explained, at the launch of the new building: “The new Life Sciences building is a landmark facility at UWC. It signifies how one’s determination and commitment to take up the challenges, no matter how daunting, can open new doors and avenues to higher achievements — a historically disadvantaged institution, designed by the Apartheid regime not to engage in research and development, unveiling the most advanced facility for Life Sciences on the African continent.

“We envisage that this facility will attract to our campus leading scholars from the African continent and the world at large, engaging in cutting edge research in our laboratories — research which will help us realise another dream — groundbreaking research in the new Life Sciences Building producing another African Nobel Laureate”.

As part of Women’s Month, we celebrate the achievements of four outstanding UWC women in science:

Dr Leslie Petrik

Under the leadership of Dr Leslie Petrik, the Environmental and Nano- Sciences group (ENS) in the Chemistry Department has a broad suite of nanoscience, environmental remediation and water related research and industrial projects funded via NRF, WRC, and THRIP with industry partners Coaltech, Eskom and Sasol as well as SMME’s. Nanoscience research objectives are aimed at gaining fundamental understanding of the design, fabrication and performance of nanophase structures in order to engineer novel functional nanophase metal alloys and catalysts for fuel production, emission control etc. Environmental research focuses on the treatment of mining effluents, brines and solid wastes, CO2 sequestration via mineral carbonation and biofuels production.

The ENS currently hosts two nanoscience related flagship projects, (one funded by the DST and the other by the Water Research Commission) and collaborates on a third DST Flagship project “Nano in Water” in collaboration with the University of Stellenbosch. Petrik is a grantholder of the THRIP programme “Sustainable salt sinks” which was nominated as finalist for the 2009 DTI award in the category research collaboration.

Professor Priscilla Baker

Based in the Chemistry Department, SensorLab is an electrochemistry, nanoscience and sensor research laboratory founded by Professor Emmanuel Iwuoha in 2002. The centre’s research focus involves the design, synthesis and analysis of soft organic and hard inorganic electroactive ‘smart’ nanomaterials for application in the construction of electrocatalytic sensors and energy generating systems. Immunosensors, genosensors (DNA sensors and aptamer sensors) and redox enzyme based biosensors are constructed with dendrimeric and polymeric nanomaterials for applications in environmental and biomedical analysis. The SensorLab team, led by Professor Emmanuel Iwuoha and coleader Professor Priscilla Baker, are involved in research projects that include therapeutic drug monitoring biosensors for anti-retroviral, anti-tuberculosis and anti-depressant drugs; immunosensors for mycotoxins in food products, biomarkers for cancers, drug resistant tuberculosis and other medical conditions; genosensors and nanobarcodes for DNA profiling; and aptamer sensor chips for endocrine disrupting compounds, polyaromatic hydrocarbons, persistent organic pollutants in water.

The nanomaterials research activities focus on the development of catalytic nanomaterials, nanophase hexagonal alkoxy-polyanilines, poly(propylene imine)-polypyrrole/ polythiophene conducting star copolymers, new generation bi-and trimetallic nanoalloys and quantum dots for applications in sensor chip arrays, supercapacitors, photovoltaic cells, stable high performance composite electrodes and electronically-modulated optical devices. Amongst SensorLab’s major achievements have been the development of therapeutic drug monitoring nanobiosensors for protease inhibitor antiretroviral drugs, selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitor drugs and antituberculosis drugs; the synthesis and electrochemical impedance spectroscopic modeling of dendritic poly (propylene imine) polypyrrole/polythiophene conducting star copolymers for applications in sensors, ultra capacitors and electronically modulated optical devices; the customization of smart electroactive nanophase polyaromatic sulphonic acid-modulated polyanilines for application in the construction of photovoltaic cells and supercapcitors; the development of new generation nano-alloy electrode systems and quantum dots; the synthesis and electrochemical interrogation of electroactive template-free poly (alkoxyanilines) hexagonal nanorod for application in highly efficient organic solar cell devices; the fabrication of ion-transfer amperometric (ITA ) DNA nanobiosensors based on polarisable liquid-liquid interfaces or supramolecular assemblies; and the development of a methodology for the production of nanostructured polymeric nanotubes, nanorods, hydrogels and dendrimeric star polymers.

Professor Thandi Puoane

Obesity is a growing public health problem in South Africa. It is a leading contributor to cardio vascular disease and is receiving attention globally. The school of public health under the leadership of Professor Thandi Puoane and her team have been working in a black township focusing on action research to identify community related factors that contribute to the increase in the prevalence of chronic diseases. This work includes identification and analysis of the causes, planning and implementation of interventions to reduce the risk for chronic diseases.

Puoane believes that the modern township lifestyle has fundamentally affected the health of inhabitants. Cheap, low-quality, fatty meats and refined sugars/starches make up the bulk of food consumed by township dwellers. While a lack of knowledge about the dangers of poor nutrition is a key challenge, Puoane says even those who know better are often unable to change their diet due to a number of factors including high prices of healthy food. To better understand factors that perpetuate the development of chronic disease in populations, the team is currently conducting a prospective urban rural epidemiological (PURE), a multi-country study aimed at identifying societal risk factors for chronic diseases.

Professor Sudeshni Naidoo

The University of the Western Cape is one of five Schools of Dentistry in South Africa. However, it graduates 47% of the country’s dentists. This is, in no small part, due to the groundbreaking international research overseen by Professor Sudeshni Naidoo. She is present ly the Deputy Dean for Postgraduate Studies and Research, Director of the World Health Organisation Collaborating Centre for Oral Health and an NRF-rated scientist. Naidoo is a Professor and Principal Specialist in the Department of Community Oral Health, Faculty of Dentistry at the University of the Western Cape, having previously held the posts of Principal Dentist, Dental Researcher at the Medical Research Council and Senior Registrar in Community Dentistry.

Professor Naidoo has been instrumental in shifting the perception of the importance of dentistry as an integral part of holistic health. She has been involved in innovative research in Fetal Alcohol Syndrome investigating the cranio-facial, oral and dental manifestations. This was a collaborative project with the Foundation for Alcohol Related Research (FAAR), University of Cape Town, NIAAA from the National Institute of Health, USA and the Centre on Alcoholism, Substance Abuse and Addiction, University of New Mexico. Her areas of research highlight how injuries to the head, mouth and teeth can often be the first sign of abuse — especially amongst children. Traumatic dental injuries are receiving growing international attention and, under the guidance of Professor Naidoo, South Africa is adding significant and important findings to the global school of learning. Naidoo explains that in incidents of child abuse, between 50 to 75% of injuries involve damage to the head, face and mouth.

The responsibility of dentists in recognising these injuries and reporting them has now been recognised by the profession. Other areas of international collaboration include those of tooth erosion (especially due to over-consumption of sports drinks) and infectious diseases and infection control in dentistry. The HIV/AIDS pandemic has had serious implications for dentistry. Naidoo has initiated and is involved in multi-disciplinary efforts to document the epidemiology of HIV/AIDS in the African context. Research is ongoing regarding analytic strategies from within a large prevalence/epidemiological data set to investigate predictors of oral HIV. Numerous scientific papers have been published documenting the Southern African scenario in both adults and children. Much of the baseline research was utilised in the development of oral HIV educational material and innovative training programmes, to train health care workers in the diagnosis and management of oral HIV lesions. Professor Naidoo has presented numerous scientific papers of her research findings at national and international conferences and has been an invited and keynote speaker, nationally and internationally on several occasions.

Professor Christina Zarowsky

The newly-established UWC HIV and AIDS Research Centre will be a world-class hub for sharing, developing and implementing engaged policy and practice-related research that tackles HIV and AIDS prevention, treatment and care within a comprehensive, systemic, inter-sectoral and interdisciplinary perspective. Director, Professor Christina Zarowsky, speaks with passion about future plans. “The Centre will develop major new research efforts building on existing HIV/AIDS programming, research and teaching capacity and strengthening efforts already underway at UWC to build an African and global centre of excellence. It will actively engage communities, schools, the health system, and gender and social equity advocates in developing, conducting, sharing, and applying research and teaching. Visiting scholars, students, staff and others will participate in its seminars, public events, workshops, and research projects”.

The Centre builds on existing funding and thematic pillars to contribute to the vision of understanding and strengthening the “dynamics of building a better society” in relation to a critical public health and societal challenge of our time in this region — that of HIV. The specific objectives of the Centre are:

1. To conduct and promote multidisciplinary research in the areas of integrated HIV and AIDS prevention and care, with an initial focus on health policies and systems, education, and gender based violence;
2. To develop sustainable HIV related research capacity at the University, through providing a research base at the University for staff and student fellows in multidisciplinary research and capacity strengthening related to integrated HIV and AIDS prevention and care.