SAYAS inaugurated 10 new members at the annual ASSAf Awards Ceremony on 9 November 2023 in Cape Town.
The South African Young Academy of Science (SAYAS) is the voice of young scientists in South Africa. SAYAS aims to contribute towards solutions to national and global challenges facing society; provide a platform for young scientists to influence policy decisions; contribute towards the development of scientific capacity in South Africa through mentoring and role-modeling of future scientists; and foster opportunities for interdisciplinary collaborations amongst young scientists.
At the launch of SAYAS in 2011, 20 founding members were elected. Since then, 10 members are elected into the young academy annually.
The new members are:
Dr Safura Abdool Karim, is a Public Health Lawyer, an Advocate at Bridge Group of Advocates and a Researcher in the School of Public Health at the University of the Western Cape.
Field(s) of Specialisation – interdisciplinary research drawing on legal and epidemiological methodologies to assess food packaging and compliance with proposed labelling regulations, policy analysis of historical food industry, and also on nutrition, diet-related NCDs, health technology assessment and COVID-19.
Prof Oluwafemi Adebo, is a Professor and Deputy Head of Department (Research) in the Department of Biotechnology & Food Technology at the University of Johannesburg
Field(s) of Specialisation – Three dimensional (3D) Food Printing, Metabolomics, Food Chemistry, Indigenous Foods, Traditional and Novel Food Processing Techniques, Health Promoting Constituents, Process Optimization, Mathematical Modelling, Food Product Development, Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS).
Prof Jessica Auerbach, is an Associate Professor, Graduate School of Business, University of Cape Town and Program Director: MPhil in Inclusive Innovation; Honourary Professor: Optentia Research Entity, North-West University, and Honourary Professor: Critical Studies in Higher Education, Nelson Mandela University
Field(s) of Specialisation – decoloniality, Anthropological Theory, Ethnography, Social and Cultural Anthropology.
Dr Candice Franke, is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Chemistry at the University of the Western Cape
Field(s) of Specialisation – nanoscience, nanotechnology, sensor technologies and more recently microfluidics.
Dr Kamini Govender, is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of the Free State.
Field(s) of Specialisation – Biochemistry, Microbiology, Pharmaceutical-Chemistry and Medical-Biochemistry.
Dr Gauta Matlou, is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University
Field(s) of Specialisation – Photochemistry, Photodynamic therapy, Phthalocyanines, Drug delivery, and Nanochemistry with focus on formulations of metal nanoparticles with novel photosensitizers for use in targeted photodynamic therapy.
Dr Moeketsi Mosia, is a Director at the Centre for Teaching, Learning and Programme Development at the Sol Platjie University
Field(s) of Specialisation – Machine learning, data science, text analytics, programming, Calculus, mathematics education, applied mathematics, statistics and teaching methods.
Dr Moleseng Moshobane, is a Senior Scientist at the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI), specifically in the Directorate on Biodiversity Evidence,
Field(s) of Specialisation – Risk Analysis for Alien and Invasive Species, in particular in Risk Analysis. Alien and Invasive Species, Toxicology, Ethnobiology, Science Communication, Risk Analysis of Alien Species and Ecosystem Services.
Dr Ncediwe Ndube-Tsolekile, is a senior lecturer at the Senior Lecturer at the Department of Chemistry at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology.
Field(s) of Specialisation – Material Sciences, Nanotechnology, Theranostics, Green Chemistry, Synthesis of nanomaterials for cancer theranostics and biochemical sensing. Fabrication of porphyrin and its derivatives, including porphyrin-nanomaterial conjugates for bioapplications. Fabrication of immune-chromatographic assays for disease diagnostics.
Prof Lusilda Schutte, Associate Professor at the Africa Unit for Transdisciplinary Health Research (AUTHeR), North-West University, a registered and practicing Clinical Psychologist. Honorary Associate Professor, MRC/Wits Developmental Pathways for Health Research Unit (DPHRU), Department of Child Health & Pediatrics, School of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand.
Field(s) of Specialisation – Positive Psychology; Psychometrics, Psychiatric epidemiology, Psychosocial Health, Public mental health, Well-being and Flourishing.