u new
integrative medicine
programme....................4
September 2009
September 2009
u research
funding boosted
by new grants.....6,
7&8
u bome
en die vergroening
van die kampus..............9
TYGERBERG
gesprek
Fa k u lt e i t g e s o n d h e i d s w e t e n s k a p p e
FA C ULT Y o f h e a lt h s c i e n c e s
Universiteit Stellenbosch University
Die soektog na die geen vir ’n oorerflike hartsiekte,
wat Afrikanerfamilies sedert 1696 affekteer, het
in die Tygerberghospitaal begin toe die destydse
dekaan van die Fakulteit Gesondheidswetenskappe,
prof Andries Brink, ’n baie siek baba behandel het.
Hier-die soektog het onlangs tot ’n einde geloop danksy volgehoue navorsing oor ’n tydperk van 30
Navorsers vind die geen vir familiële hartblok
N
á ’n wetenskaplike studie van meer as drie dekades het
navorsers van die Fakulteit Gesondheidwetenskappe,
Universiteit Stellenbosch – in samewerking met internasionale vennote - die geen gevind wat die oorerflike
hartsiekte, bekend as progressiewe familiële hartblok tipe I, in
’n groep Suid-Afrikaanse families veroorsaak. Die voorsate van
al hierdie families kan terug gespoor word na ’n immigrant wat
in 1696 in Tafelbaai aan wal gestap het.
Prof Andries Brink – ’n hartspesialis en voormalige
dekaan van die fakulteit – het die siekte in 1977 vir die eerste
keer beskryf. In 1986, het Brink se seun, prof Paul Brink, in
samewerking met prof Valerie Corfield – beide van die Fakulteit Gesondheidswetenskappe – begin met ’n wetenskaplike
soektog na die genetiese mutasie wat die siekte veroorsaak.
Progressiewe familiële hartblok word veroorsaak deur ’n onderbreking van die elektriese impulse wat die hart se kontraksies bepaal.
Brink en Corfield het mutasie nagespoor tot ’n klein gebied op chromosoom 19 wat ongeveer 80 gene bevat. Hul
soektog na die geen, waar hierdie mutasie lê, het onlangs tot
’n einde gekom toe die US-navorsers, in samewerking met
weten-skaplikes van Hamburg en Münster in Duitsland, die
spesifieke oorsaaklike geen uit die groep van 80 gene kon
identifiseer.
Die studie, wat jarelange navorsing verteenwoordig en
dikwels ander navorsingspanne, geneeshere, hartspesialiste en
tegnoloë van die Fakulteit Gesondheidswetenskappe betrek
het, is in die Septemberuitgawe van die internasionale Journal
of Clinical Investigation gepubliseer. ’n Internetweergawe van
die artikel is beskikbaar op die joernaal se webwerf - http://
www.jci.org/.
Die studie van progressiewe familiële hartblok het in die
1970’s by die Universiteit Stellenbosch begin toe prof Andries
Brink – destyds ’n hartspesialis by die Tygerberghospitaal –
’n baba behandel het wat gebore is met ’n baie lae hartspoed.
Die kind se toestand was so ernstig dat sy ’n hart-pasaangeër
moes ontvang. Op daardie stadium was sy die eerste baba
in Suid-Afrika om behandeling dmv ’n pasaangeër te ontvang.
Volgens prof Paul Brink was dit destyds ’n ernstige besluit om
te neem omdat kunsmatige pasaangeërs in ’n vroeë stadium
van ontwikkeling en byna die grootte van ’n baksteen was.
Hedendaagse pasaangeërs is minder as vier sentimeter lank
en dit word onder die vel ingeplant met elektrodes wat na die
binnekant van die hart lei en die hartslag reguleer. Die groot
pasaangeërs van die laat 1970’s is in die buikholte geplaas met
elektrodes wat deur die mantelvlies na die buitekant van die
hart geneem is.
Lees verder op bl. 2
Op die foto bo: Die navorsers van Suid-Afrika en Duitsland wat
betrokke was by die soektog na die geen vir progressiewe familiële
hartblok, by ’n geselligheid tydens ’n besoek van die Duitse navorsers. Op die foto vlnr is proff Paul Brink, Eric Schulze-Bahr van
Münster, Duitsland, Valerie Corfield, Olaf Pongs van die Universiteit
Hamburg, Duitsland en Andries Brink, oud-dekaan van die FGW
wat die eerste navorser was om die siekte te beskryf.
Vervolg vanaf bl. 1
Terwyl Brink snr nog besig was om
oor die beste behandeling vir die baba
te besin, het hy gehoor van nog ’n baba
wat ’n pasaangeër benodig het. Dit het
geblyk dat dié kind ’n nabye familielid
was van die baba onder sy sorg. Dit het
hom laat vermoed dat die probleem
dalk oorerflik van aard kon wees en hy
het besluit om die hulp van dr Marie
Torrington, ’n spesialis op die gebied
van genealogiese navorsing, in te roep.
Dr Torrington het uiteindelik die siekte
nagespoor in ander families – van wie
die meeste uit die Oos-Kaap afkomstig
was. Sy en Brink snr het gevind dat die
draer van die defektiewe geen in 1696
uit Madeira, Portugal na Suid-Afrika
geëmigreer het. Hier is hy getroud met
’n vrou van Nederlandse afkoms.Vandag
is alle Suid-Afrikaners wat deur progressiewe familiële hartblok geaffekteer
word, afstammelinge van hierdie egpaar.
Volgens die navorsers is ongeveer
50% van kinders uit ’n familie waar
een ouer progressiewe familiële hartblok het, draers van die toestand. Twee
derdes van diegene wat draers van die
siekte is, sal vroeër of later ’n pasaangeër moet kry” sê prof Valerie Corfield.
“Die res sal geen simptome van die
siekte toon nie. By ’n baie klein persentasie sal daar geen tekens van die siekte
op ’n elektrokardiogram gevind word
nie, selfs al is hulle draers van die geen,
terwyl die res wel tekens van onderliggende elektriese storings sal toon.”
Wanneer simptome van progressiewe familiële hartblok ontwikkel,
word die siekte gekenmerk deur ’n stadige hartslag wat ’n pasaangeër vereis.
“Die siekte kan vanaf geboorte tot
op gevorderde leeftyd voorkom en in
sommige gevalle is dit selfs in die baarmoeder gevind. Vandag kan die hartspoed van ’n pasiënt beheer word met
die tydige inplanting van ’n pasaangeër.
Voor die koms van dié apparaat, het die
siekte die lewens van die meeste van sy
slagoffers geëis, aldus prof Paul Brink.
Hy sê die identifikasie van die oorsaaklike geen sou nie kon plaasvind
sonder die deurlopende samewerking en belangstelling van die families
wat deur die siekte geraak word nie.
Ontwikkelings in molekulêre biologie
Die ontdekking van die oorsaaklike geen maak akkurate diagnose
en vroeë behandeling moontlik vir
families wat deur die siekte geraak
word.
Genetika van die hart. ’n Jarelange navorsingsvennootskap wat fokus op oorerflike hartsiektes.
D
ie navorsing wat proff Paul Brink en Valerie Corfield oor baie jare reeds
doen op die gebied van oorerflike hartsiektes het gehelp om genetika as
een van die vlagskipprojekte van die US FGW te vestig.
Hul ontdekking van die geen vir progressiewe familiële hartblok het
vir die twee navorsers die kroon gespan oor navorsing wat oor drie dekades
strek. Hulle glo dat die ontdekking kan bydra tot beter begrip en insig van ander
harttoestande wat verband hou met die hart se elektriese stelsel - onder meer
nie-genetiese vertragings in hartspoed wat betreklik algemeen is onder ouer
mense.
Brink en Corfield is ook betrokke by ’n wye reeks studies van ander genetiese harttoestande wat ook families van Afrikanerherkoms affekteer - en hul
toegang tot die families van oorsprong speel ’n belangrike rol in die sukses van
hulle werk op hierdie gebied. Familielede wat draers is van genetiese mutasies,
wat verband hou met oorerflike hartsiektes, word klinies opgevolg by ’n kliniek
wat Brink in die Fakulteit bedryf, en ontvang gepaste, voorkomende behandeling.
Een van die oorerflike siektes wat hulle steeds bestudeer is ’n hartspiersiekte, bekend as hipertrofiese kardiomiopatie, wat skielike en onverwagte sterftes
veroorsaak - dikwels in jong- en skynbaar gesonde manlike en vroulike atlete
en ander sportmense. Twee ander oorerflike siektes waarop hulle werk, is die
Lang-QT-sindroom wat aanleiding gee tot ’n gevaarlike, onreëlmatige hartritme
wat lei tot floutes en soms tot sterftes, en progressiewe familiële hartblok tipe
II, ’n ander elektriese geleidingsiekte van die hart.
aan die einde van die vorige eeu en die
kartering van die menslike genoom het
verder bygedra om dit vir hom en Corfield moontlik te maak om die inligting,
wat uit groot familiestudies versamel
is, te gebruik om die oorsaaklike geen,
met die hulp van DNS merkers, tot op
die relevante chromosoom te karteer.
Hoewel die data van die gekarteerde menslike genoom vrylik tot hul
beskikking was, was die soektog na die
geen steeds soos ’n soektog na ’n naald
in ’n hooimied. Daar is 80 of meer gene
in die gebied waar ons verwag het om
die oorsaaklike geen te vind, en die
ondersoeke en ontledings van elk van
hierdie gene, het ’n lang en tydrowende
proses behels.
“Dit was tydens een van hierdie
soektogte dat prof Olaf Pongs van ’n
navorsingsgroep in Hamburg, Duitsland,
met ons in aanraking gekom en aangedui het dat hy belangstel in ’n bepaalde
geen wat in ons soekgebied geleë was.
Hy het voorgestel dat ons dié bepaalde
2
geen onder die loep moet neem. Op
hierdie wyse het ons begin saamwerk
met Pongs en ’n tweede Duitse navorsingspan, dié van prof Eric Shulze-Bahr
van Münster.”
Danksy die gesamentlike navorsing
van die Stellenbossers en die Duitsers,
het dit uiteindelik geblyk dat die geen,
wat aanvanklik Pongs se belangstelling
getrek het, inderdaad ’n baie klein verandering toon wat aanleiding gee tot
die ontwikkeling van familiële hartblok.
“Deur ons navorsing het dit toe geblyk dat die produk van hierdie geen ’n
rol speel in die manier waarop hartselle
natrium en kalium, die basis van die
elektriese seine van die hart, hanteer.”
Die ontdekking van die oorsaaklike
geen beteken dat families wat deur die
siekte geraak word, nou ’n akkurate genetiese diagnose kan ontvang en in ’n
vroeë stadium reeds weet watter familielede die gevaar loop om die siekte te
ontwikkel. Sulke familielede kan dan met
gepaste behandeling opgevolg word.
Akademiese Jaardag
AKADEMIESE JAARDAG.
Voortreflikheid en
kundigheid kenmerk aanbiedings en plakkate.
D
van die James Lind Library,
ie omvattende navorOxford. Sy lesing het gehansing en wydlopende
del oor Avoidable waste in rekundigheid van US
search.
navorsers en klinici ten
Die Fakulteit-wye fokus
opsigte van die Tuberkulose
op siektes wat die gesonden MIV-epidemies in Suid-Afheidstatus van die Suid-Afrika was weereens opvallend
rikaanse bevolking raak, het
tydens die 53ste Akademiese
weereens duidelik geblyk
Jaardag van die Fakulteit Geuit die navorsingsprojekte
sondheidswetenskappe wat
wat by die Jaardag voorgeonlangs op die Tygerbergkamdra is. Dit het gewissel van
pus van die US aangebied is.
basiese tot kliniese navorsDie Jaardag is een van die
ingsprojekte op die geoudste tradisies van US FGW
bied van tuberkulose, MIV,
en is vir die eerste keer in
1956 – die stigtingsjaar van Sir Iain Chalmers (links) was die gasspreker op die FGW se 2009 siektes van armoede en
die Fakulteit – gehou. Waar Akademiese Jaardag. Sy lesing het gehandel oor “Avoidable waste ander wat ook as navorsdaar aanvanklik net 10 tot 15 in research.” Langs hom is dr Taryn Young, mede-sameroeper van ingsvlagskepe geïdentifiseer
referate by so ’n geleentheid die Meestersprogram in Kliniese Epidemiologie, dr Pat Yudkin van is. Veral opvallend was die
aangebied is, het die Jaardag- die Oxford Universiteit in Engeland en prof Jimmy Volmink, vise- interdepartementele en interdissiplinêre samewerking
komitee vanjaar 288 abstrakte dekaan (Navorsing) van die FGW.
binne die Fakulteit op prioontvang, insluitend 136 plakkate. Vroeër is die geleentheid op een dag aangebied terwyl riteitsnavorsing soos tuberkulose en MIV, deur navorsers van
dit vanjaar oor byna drie dae met 13 paralelle sessies gestrek bykans elke ander departement, afdeling of dissipline in die
het. Vanjaar was die gasspreker Sir Iain Chalmers, redakteur Fakulteit bedryf word.
ANNUAL ACADEMIC DAY:
winners, sessions and
structural changes
This poster presentations on the LINK community project won a
third prize in the Community Service and Interaction session.
T
he 2009 Academic Day was marked by changes in several areas, including the structure of the programme, an
increase in the number of sessions and the awarding of
prizes for presentations and posters.
According to the chairperson of the Annual Academic
Day (AAD) committee, Dr Corena de Beer, a number of
problem areas or issues were identified after last year’s AAD
and the committee decided to do a survey to test the opinion
of staff. “The results of this survey indicated the need for various changes, specifically to the structure of the AAD.
“These included an expansion to 13 parallel sessions com3
pared to last year’s nine and a make-over of the Thursday
main programme which has now been limited to the state of
the art and guest lectures only. There were no overall winners this year since the adjudication of the winners would
have been impossible as a result of time constraints as well as
the scientific and clinical diversity of the presentations. However, all the sessions have chosen winners in the categories
best oral presentation, best poster and/or scientific exhibition
and best young researcher.
De Beer says the Academic Day was very well supported
and the commitee received a total of 288 abstracts compared
to 212 last year. Included were 136 posters, compared to last
year’s 103. “This year proceeding started on Tuesday afternoon with a poster session of Community Service and Interaction projects. Other newcomers were Nursing, the Centre
for Health Sciences Education and Health Systems, Primary
Care and Public Health. The Centre for Infectious Diseases
was also presented during parallel session and not during a
symposium as was the case last year.
Due to time and the scientific and clinical diversity of
presentations, no overall winners were chosen.
INTEGRATIVE MEDICINE.
New
course aims to provide doctors with additional tools, skills and therapies.
A
new certificate programme in Integrative Medicine, due to be introduced by the Family Medicine
and Primary Care division of the
SU Faculty of Health Sciences, aims to
provide doctors with additional knowledge, skills and understanding of this
discipline, says Dr Maria Christodoulou
(photo above) who is currently designing the one-year, web-based distance
learning course.
“This is the first course in Integrative Medicine being offered at postgraduate level by a South African university,” says Christodoulou, a leading
health and wellness coach with a wide
range of knowledge and experience in
the field of integrative health care.
“Although the Certificate Course
will not provide doctors with additional certification with the HPCSA,
we are currently laying the foundation
and doing the groundwork for eventual
accreditation.”
Christodoulou describes integrative
medicine as a healing-oriented medicine that takes account of the whole
person – body, mind and spirit – including all aspects of lifestyle.“It emphasises
the therapeutic relationship and makes
use of all appropriate therapies, both
conventional and alternative, in an evidence-based approach.”
An MBChB graduate of the SU Faculty of Health Sciences, Christodoulou
was in private practice in the 1990’s
when she developed an interest in integrative medicine and decided to study
homeopathy. “During my three-year
training in homeopathy, I discovered
a whole new philosophy and
“The course is unique in its apa healing-oriented rather than
proach in that it will attempt to acdisease-oriented approach to
knowledge the context of South Afmedicine. This approach not
rican people and the challenges faced
only offered additional tools,
by a healthcare system in a diverse
skills and therapies to support
society.
the patient, but a way of think“The programme aims to enhance
ing about health and illness that
the quality of patient and practitioner
empowered me as a doctor in
relationships; expand the potential for
relationship to the patient.”
patient care by focusing on a healingOn completion of her traincentred and evidence-based approach
ing in homeopathy, she established
that includes a combination of cona successful private practice, offerventional, complementary, alternative
ing integrative care. During this time
and traditional systems, theories and
she became known for her expertise
philosophies. It will also prepare the
in the support of people living with
practitioner to educate and support
cancer and acquired extensive experipatients in making lifestyle choices and
ence in the management of stress-reinformed decisions through an integralated, chronic and lifestyle diseases. In
tive approach and encourage practitio2005 she completed a This is the first course ner self-awareness and
diploma in practitioner offered at postgraduate self-care by exploring
coaching and started
personal values, beliefs,
level to doctors in South
practicing as a full-time
attitudes and practices
Africa and Africa.
Health Coach.
relevant to integrative
She says the new
medicine.
SU course in Integrative Medicine is
scheduled to begin in January 2010 and
will be open for registrations until the
For more information please visit
end of October 2009.
www.sun.ac.za/integrativemedicine
Discovery steun vir Matie Gemeenskapsdiens
D
iscovery is sedert 2001 ’n vennoot van Matie Gemeenskapsdiens se Primêre
Gesondheidsprogram op die Tygerbergkampus. Buiten jaarlikse finansiële
ondersteuning van meer as R200 000, het die organisasie ook in samewerking
met die Universiteit, prakties betrokke geraak by die Bathanda kinderhuis.
Discovery het besondere waardering vir die Tygerbergstudente se betrokkenheid
by plattelandse gemeenskappe wat onvoldoende mediese geriewe het - en ook
dat die studente hul vaardighede in die gemeenskap beskikbaar stel ten spyte van
besige akademiese programme. Op hierdie foto, wat onlangse geneem is toe ’n
skaal aan MGD geskenk is, is personeel van Discovery se Korporatiewe Investeringsafdeling saam met Fakulteitspersoneel en studente wat by MGD betrokke is.
4
Ukwanda in die virtuele ruimte Studente op plattelandse rotasies kry ’n eie
‘klaskamer’ op die Internet.
M
et 10% van alle kliniese rotasies
wat tans in landelike gebiede
gedoen word, het Ukwanda
onlangs ’n internet-gebaseerde
landelike leer- en onderrig-netwerk
geskep sodat studente deurgaans kontak met die Tygerbergkampus kan behou terwyl hulle rotasies op die platteland doen.
Volgens die direkteur van Ukwanda,
prof Hoffie Conradie, ondervind afdelings soos Huisartskunde en Primêre
Sorg, Rehabilitasie en Gemeenskapsgesondheid heelwat logistiese probleme
tov die lewering van akademiese materiaal aan studente wat besig is met
rotasies op die Ukwanda-platform.
Daar word bv van studente verwag om
tydens hierdie rotasies ’n aantal projekte in te handig. Terselfdertyd word
daar van dosente verwag om tutoriale
gereed te hê voor die studente na die
verskillende opleidingsterreine vertrek.
Dit gebeur ook dikwels dat studente
hulle rotasies moet onderbreek om
terug te keer na die Fakulteit ten einde
akademiese materiaal aan te vul.
Ukwanda het derhalwe ’n jaarlange
studie geloods om die haalbaarheid
van ’n WebStudies e-leermodule vir
voorgraadse MBChB-studente te toets
tydens hul rotasies van twee weke, en
tydens die vyf weke-lange kliniese rotasies in Huisartskunde, Gemeenskapsgesondheid en Rehabilitasie.
Vir hierdie doel is Ukwanda se
opleidingsgeriewe by plattelandse hospitale in Worcester, Ceres, Malmesbury,
Hermanus, Caledon, Swellendam, Citrusdal en Madwaleni in die Oos-Kaap
onlangs toegerus met klein, draagbare
skootrekenaars - bekend as Netbooks
wat aan studente, dmv bandlose internet-tegnologie, toegang bied tot ’n virtuele Ukwanda-klaskamer. In hierdie
klaskamer het hulle toegang tot interaksie met hul dosente en mede-studente, sowel as die Ukwanda-studiegids,
Links: Dr JP Bosman (links) het met die hulp
van prof Hoffie Conradie en mev Denise
Lynch (regs) landelike hospitale toegerus
vir bandlose Internet-toegang.
D
Studente by die Caledonhospitaal.
aanlyn-modules en ander studiebronne.
Die studente kan ook bandlose Internetverbinding gebruik om deur middel
van die selfoonnetwerk, toegang tot
die klaskamer gekry. Daar word ook
deurlopend studie-materiaal op die
rekenaars self gelaai en hierdie materiaal hoef dus nie dmv die internet
afgelaai te word nie. Die Ukwandaspan, in samewerking met die Fakulteit se Kliniese Vaardigheidsentrum, is
trouens besig om opleidingsvideo’s van
kritieke prosedures, vir gebruik op die
rekenaars, te vervaardig - onder meer
die trek van bloed, die toediening van
binne-aarse vog en ander tegnieke.
Volgens dr JP Bosman, van die US
Sentrum vir Leer en Onderrig, wat die
tegniese aspekte van die projek behartig het, is bandlose internet-tegnologie
ideaal vir landelike opvoeding. Om die
projek in werking te stel het Bosman,
met die hulp van prof Hoffie Conradie
en mev Denise Lynch van Ukwanda,
al die betrokke opleidingshospitale
toegerus met bandlose internetpunte,
sowel as Netbooks en internet-rotors.
In die loop van die jaarlange studie
sal die Ukwandaspan studente, sowel
as dosente se persepsies tov die sukses en tekortkominge van die program
meet en probleme tov die mobiele eleermodule uitstryk.
ENKELE KLINIEK vergemaklik MIV en TB behandeling
anksy befondsing van die Holland/Stellenbosch Mediese Stigting, kon ’n enkele kliniek vir MIV-pasiënte wat ook aan tuberkulose ly, by die Worcesterhospitaal ingerig word. Hierdie ontwikkeling het talle positiewe implikasies vir pasiënte en
die Departement Gesondheid. Dit beteken onder meer dat pasiënte nie meer die ongerief en ekstra vervoerkostes van
twee besoeke het nie en dit bring vir die Departement besparings mee omdat dit onnodige duplikasie van dokumentasie
en behandelings uitskakel. Die eerste pasiënte kon die kliniek reeds in Julie begin besoek en voltydse verpleegkundige het in
September begin om die fasiliteit voltyds te beman.
’n Ander belangrike komponent van die projek is die opleiding wat verskaf word vir tuisversorgers en pesoneel wat met MIV positiewe persone
werk, tov TB en die behandeling daarvan by MIV-positiewe pasiente.
Die Holland/Stellenbosch Mediese Stigting het fondse van die Backhuys Roosenboom Stichting in Nederland ontvang om die kliniek te befonds. Die projek word deur die US se Ukwanda Sentrum vir Landelike
Gesondheid geadministreer. Op die foto links is gaste wat by die bekendstelling van die kliniek teenwoordig was. Hulle is, voor vlnr: Dr S Wentler
en prof Hoffie Conradie; in die twee ry, vlnr, dr Therese Fish, mee Lindsay-Michelle Meyer en Denise Lynch, en agter, vlnr: drr Collette Gunst en
Lizette Philllips en Sr Anel le Roux.
5
Funding grants
Wellcome Trust grants for faculty researchers
A number of Stellenbosch University scientists in the Faculty of Health
Sciences benefitted from grants, recently awarded by the Wellcome Trust.
This United Kingdom organisation funds innovative biomedical research
internationally and spends more than 600 million pounds each year to
support the brightest scientists with the best ideas.The Trust also supports
public debate about biomedical research and its impact on health and
well-being.
Prof Valerie Corfield -
Molecular Biology and
 Human
Genetics division
A
Training to
enhance science
communication
s part of its mission to engage the
public with science, the International Engagement Awards fund of
the Wellcome Trust has awarded
30 000 pounds to Prof Valerie Corfield
of the Molecular Biology and Human
Genetics division of the SU Faculty of
Health Sciences for a project aimed at
catalyzing new partnerships between
science centres and biomedical scientists throughout South Africa.
Corfield points out that on international level, science centres play
an important role in bridging the gap
between scientists and the public. In
South Africa these centres are relatively
new and are often an under-utilized
resource which, Corfield believes, can
serve as an important intermediary to
disseminate information and stimulate
dialogue on the biomedical science research between scientists, science centres and the public.
However, “one thing that most
South African science centre facilitators and scientists have in common, is
little formal training and a consequent
lack of skills to engage the public in dialogue about research and scientific issues, relevant to the country.The aim of
the Wellcome grant is to address these
concerns,” she says.
Corfield explains that she will utilize the grant to assess what works well
in engaging the public and will use this
knowledge to help science centre facilitators as well as communicating scientists to interact with the public, including
large numbers of learners and students,
in areas of health research which is of
national relevance such as HIV, TB, substance abuse and DNA applications.
“The project aims to build new partnerships between the country’s science
centres and scientists throughout South
Africa to strengthen capacity and build
a network of biomedical science communicators who can interact with the
public on these issues.”
Training will take place at workshops,
to be held for facilitators and scientists
at science centres in different parts of
the country. Initially this will involve a
core group of some 40 science centre
facilitators, representing the 13 active
science centres in various parts of the
country, as well as a group of at least
15 scientists with an active interest in
science communication from different
research institutions in South Africa.
The project will be managed by
Corfield in partnership with Ms Julie
Cleverdon of the MTN Science Centre
in Cape Town. Corfield herself has been
involved in science communication and
public engagement workshops. Her
workshops and scientific exhibitions on
issues such as genetics, HIV,TB and others, have been presented to thousands
of people and widely divergent audiences throughout South Africa.
The Wellcome Trust funds
projects in the developing world
that foster engagement between
health research and the public.
6
Prof Tommie Victor -
Molecular Biology and
 Human
Genetics division
Drug resistant TB
under the microscope
A
Wellcome Trust grant, amounting to R4 million over a period of
three years, was awarded to Prof
Tommie Victor - also of the Molecular Biology and Human Genetics
division - to study drug resistant TB.
“We aim to develop a battery of
tests to identify and compare resistant
strains in order to identify markers for
the design of new TB drugs,” according
to Victor.
He says their application for funding was strongly supported by a huge
collection of TB samples that form part
of an unique sample bank in the division.
This bank comprises one of the largest
collections of TB samples in the world,
including some 8 000 drug-sensitive and
3 000 drug resistant cultures.
“We have already made good progress and one of our students is currently working on a project entitled
New hope for the treatment of drug resistant TB, he says.
Funding grants
Stellenbosch University is one of the beneficiaries of
a Wellcome Trust award of five million pounds to a
consortium of universities in Southern Africa.
Building research capacity in Africa
S
tellenbosch researchers, Profs Jean Nachega and Nulda
Beyers, will be participating in an initiative by the Wellcome Trust to build research capacity in Africa.
This initiative is known as the Southern Africa Consortium for Research Excellence (SACORE) and comprises
a partnership between three low income African universities with an emerging research environment; three middle
income universities with an established research environment and four high income universities with high quality
research environments in the United Kingdom.
The consortium was awarded a grant of five million
British pounds over a period of five years.
The institutions in the low income categories are the
medical school of the University of Zambia; the health
sciences college of the University of Zimbabwe and the college of medicine of the University of Malawi.
The three middle income universities in the group are
the universities of Stellenbosch and Cape Town and the
University of Botswana’s Harvard/Botswana partnership.
The low income universities will receive tailor-made
support from four British institutions, namely the London
School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine; Barts and London
School of Medicine; the University College of London and
the University of Liverpool’s School of Tropical Medicine.
Prof Jean Nachega of the Centre for Infectious Diseases
will be the principal investigator of the SU Faculty of Health
Sciences in the consortium. He will be assisted by Prof
Nulda Beyers of the Desmond Tutu TB Centre.
While each member of
the consortium operates
independently and sets its
own research agenda, certain activities are common
to most. These include
leadership training and
professional development,
PhD and postdoctoral
fellowships, improved infrastructure, competitive
grant schemes and the
provision of up-to-date
equipment.
“The aim of this initiative is to ensure that AfProf Jean Nachega
rican universities become
Centre for Infectious
more centrally involved in
Diseases
health research in Africa,”
says Dr Jimmy Whitworth,
head of international activities at the Wellcome Trust.
“It is only by bringing teaching, service commitment and
research together that we will develop the next generation
of African researchers. Through this initiative each consortium will focus on the needs of African universities to support sustainable and internationally competitive scientific
research.”
Drs Hayley Ipp (left) and Richard Glashoff
Medical Virology division.
A collaborative project, comprising a new approach to
the treatment of HIV/Aids, received funding of R3.8 million from SHARP.
Keeping immune cells alive to delay
ARV treatment
I
n an innovative collaboration between science and medicine, Drs Richard Glashoff and Hayley Ipp of the Virology division are working together to find new and different ways
to approach the problem of HIV/Aids treatment, especially
in South African patients.
The clinical approach they have in mind is based on scientific data and is aimed at keeping the immune cells of HIV-infected patients alive for as long as possible to delay the start of
antiretroviral treatment, or as an adjunct to ARV treatment.
This project, which is already showing promising results, recently received funding of R3.8 million for a period of three
years from the SA HIV/Aids Innovation Research Platform
(SHARP). Glashoff says SHARP is an initiative of the Department of Science and Technology to sponsor innovative new
HIV/Aids research. The platform is linked to Life Lab, a bio-innovation incubation laboratory.
As a medical doctor who specialized in Haematology, Ipp
started working with Glashoff, a scientist in immunology, with
the specific aim of helping patients on ARV treatment. “Recent
reports have shown that people on longterm ARV treatment
tend to die from causes not related to Aids, such as strokes,
heart attacks and other conditions related to inflammation.
“Our approach is to dampen the inflammation which usually carries on despite ARV treatment.”
She says they hope to develop a drug that will be useful in
South African conditions, especially in rural areas. “That means
no injections. Hopefully, it will comprise an oral packaging or
oral spray.”
The two researchers believe that it is important for clinicians and scientists to work together in the search for innovative solutions to the medical problems such as HIV/Aids.
“To find something that will enable people to live with the
HI virus without it destroying the immune system is indeed a
very exciting prospect,” Ipp says.

7
Funding grants
A
team of TB researchers of the SU
Faculty of Health Sciences have
been chosen to participate in a
TB Clinical Trials Consortium
(TBTC), comprising 15 test sites.
The consortium is funded by the
American Centres for Disease Control
(CDC), who awarded the grant after a
competitive international selection process.
The Faculty team, known as SUNTB, is led by Dr Anneke Hesseling of the
Desmond Tutu TB Centre, Prof Andreas
Diacon of Medical Physiology and director of the Task TB Trials Unit, and Prof
Mark Cotton, director of the Paediatric
Infectious Diseases Unit, KID-CRU. The
SU application was written in collaboration with Drs Fred Gordin and Debra
Benator of the George Washington
A new international TB Clinical Trials Consortium will draw on the strong
interdisciplinary research experience of SU FHS investigators
Searching for new TB treatments
University (GWU), representing the US
Veteran’s Administration TBTC sites.
This faculty-wide application draws
on the strong interdisciplinary TB research experience at Stellenbosch and
includes numerous co-investigators
who bring critical expertise in HIV,
microbiology methods for optimal detection and monitoring of treatment
response, pharmacology, immunology,
ethical conduct of research, clinical trials experience and molecular biology.
The new research efforts will also build
on the strong historical research col-
Twelve South African doctoral students will benefit from a R10 million
Fogarty award for research training.
A
Respiratory diseases in the spotlight
s part of a research training project on chronic lung diseases in Southern
Africa, Prof Elvis Irusen and colleagues of Occupational Health in SA and the
University of Michigan have received a R10 million Fogarty/NIH award for the
training of PhD students in South and sub-Saharan Africa.
Irusen, who is currently president of the SA Thoracic Society, says the overall
objective of this proposal is the strengthening of regional research capacity in the 14
countries of the Southern African Development
Community (SADC) to address the challenges of
non-communicable chronic respiratory diseases.
This includes chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, chronic asthma in adults and children, and
pneumoconioses, associated with environmental
air pollution, burning of biomass fuels in homes,
indoor and outdoor exposure to bio-aerosols,
environmental tobacco smoke, as well as occupational diseases associated with exposures to mining and construction industries, respirable dust in
coal mines, allergens and endotoxins associated
with agriculture and food processing.
The grant will support 12 doctoral students
enrolled at four South African universities and include an intensive four-month study programme
Prof Elvis Irusen
in translational research at the University of
Department of Medicine
Michigan.
8
laborations between the local TB control programme at community level
and Stellenbosch nvestigators, and also
strengthens a formal inter-university
collaboration with GWU.
Hesseling points out that although
children are a group highly vulnerable
to TB, few studies of new TB drugs or
regimens have included children. The
SU investigators bring paediatric TB expertise to the group as well as a strong
research track record both in adult and
paediatric HIV research.
The main aim of the TBTC is to improve treatment for TB through new
drugs, better strategies and shorter
durations of treatment. Initial TBTC
studies will investigate novel shorter
TB regimens in adults and children with
and without HIV infection.
This research has the potential to
impact significantly on improved TB
care in South Africa and beyond.
According to the SU team, TB control remains a global challenge, especially in resource-limited countries like
South Africa where the estimated incidence of TB was 948 per 100 000 in
2008. South Africa had the fourth highest TB rate in the world in 2008 while
the Western Cape Province has the
highest number of new TB cases in the
country. The burden of TB is mainly on
the public health sector where Direct
Observed Therapy Short-Course strategy (DOTS) is implemented under the
South African National TB Programme.
In 2007 44% of new TB cases were
HIV positive in South Africa. We are
also increasingly facing the problem of
drug resistant TB and there is an urgent
need for new approaches to improve
the treatment of drug susceptible drug
resistant TB.
Green campus
Groen kampus
‘Greening’ the Tygerberg campus. The FHS recently became
the first faculty to hold a green summit in support of the University’s
sustainable development initiatives.
T
he first steps towards the ‘greening’ of the Tygerberg
Campus were recently taken when a green summit was
held at the Faculty of Health Sciences.
The FHS was in fact the first SU faculty to have such
a summit, says Prof Bob Mash, chairman of the Tygerberg
Campus Green Committee that was set up in support of the
Faculty’s efforts to develop a policy on sustainability.
Mash says sustainable development is a critical issue for
South Africa and Stellenbosch University wants to make a
positive contribution towards answering key questions in this
regard.
“On our campus, Faculty management has also identified
sustainability as an issue and as a result, the Green Committee was formed to address key questions such as: How do we
raise the quality of life for all South Africans while avoiding the trap
of unhealthy and unsustainable over consumption of non-renewable resources? How can we use scarce resources such as energy
and water more efficiently? How can we reduce our contribution
to greenhouse gases and climate change? How can we minimize
the impact of climate change on health?
Mash points out that the University and the Faculty are
both large consumers of energy. During the last year alone,
the Faculty’s electricity bill amounted to R5,2 million. “One of
our aims is to reduce that bill, for financial as well as moral
reasons.”
He says the purpose of the recent green summit was to
give an opportunity for anyone on campus who consumes
resources, provide input and contribute to a 5-year vision
and an initial plan for becoming more sustainable. Among
the speakers and representatives were Prof Mark Swilling of
the SU Sustainability Institute; Prof Leopoldt van Huyssteen,
executive director of the SU Operation and Finance department, who is currently developing a sustainability policy for
the University, and Dr Matthew Heun of the Centre for Renewable and Sustainable Energy Studies, Stellenbosch University and the Calvin College, Michigan, USA. He is currently a
visiting professor at SU.
“Prof Swilling said that
there were only a few green
projects in Cape Town and
he challenged the Tygerberg Campus to become a
leader in this regard.”
A number of students - all of them ‘green’ representatives
of the different hostels on campus - also attended the summit.
While the first session focused on energy use, a 5-year vision
and practical steps in this regard, the second session consisted of small group work on topics such as water use, waste
and recycling, transport, campus grounds and land use, food
procurement and consumption and building maintenance and
operations.
Mash says the Green Committee will take the ideas and
recommendations from the summit and bring them together
in a planning document. Recommendations will range from
the mundane and easy - such as ‘switch the lights off’ - to
larger ideas and specific energy and efficiency projects.
He says the summit was a huge success and generated a
lot of positive energy. “It also became clear that we have the
potential here for inter-University and inter-disciplinary cooperation.At the same time the initiative holds large potential
benefits for the Faculty.”
Speakers and other participants at the Green Campus summit
included Profs Mark Swilling (back left), SU Sustainability Institute;
Leopoldt van Huyssteen, SU Executive Director: Operations and
Finance; Bob Mash, Executive Head: Family Medicine and Primary
Care; Wynand van der Merwe, Dean: Faculty of Health Sciences;
Dr Matthew Kuperus Heun (front left), Centre for Renewable and
Sustainability Energy Studies (SU and Calvin College, USA) and Mr
Patrick Costello, Shared Energy Management.
Bome van ‘groen’ reisigers
Die Tygerbergkampus het onlangs weereens ’n groot aantal bome ryker geword danksy die derde
boomplantgeleentheid onder die projek Trees for Green Travellers, wat drie jaar gelede op die inisiatief van prof Bob Mash begin is. By die eerste geleentheid is vier bome geplant; by die tweede
is agt geplant en vanjaar is daar reeds 31 geplant - waarvan 21 deur Mash geskenk is na afloop
van ’n werkswinkel wat by Huisartskunde gehou is. Op die foto links, wat tydens die jongste boomplantgeleentheid geneem is, is vlnr: proff Wolfgang Preiser, Bob Mash en Marietjie de Villiers; dr
Therese Fish en die dekaan, prof Wynand van der Merwe.
9
Briefly
News from the Faculty
day of the midwife
 Tea and a seminar
International Day at FHS
The International Day of
the Midwife was celebrated
by the SU Nursing division
earlier this year when
students of the Basic
Midwifery programme, as
well as Advanced Midwifery
and Neonatology, each
invited a fellow midwife as
their guest for a seminar
and a morning tea. Managers
from neighbouring hospitals
were also invited as guests.
In presenting the event
on the Tygerberg Campus,
the aim of the Nursing
division was to celebrate
the occassion with fellow
midwives in a festive way, but
also to sensitise midwives
to further research and to
disseminate new knowledge.
Speakers at the function
included Prof Sheila Clow,
from UCT and a member of
the SA Midwifery Society. She
reminded the audience of the
contributions of midwives to
society and the health sector
and provided information on
the SA Midwifery Society.
Dr Ethelwynn Stellenberg, a
senior SU lecturer, promoted
opportunities for midwives
to engage in community
interaction while Ms Haaritha
Boltman, of UWC presented
the results of her research
on maternal and neonatal
outcomes of ingested herbal
and homeopathic remedies
during pregnancy, birth
and breastfeeding. She also
challenged the midwives
to further research. Prof
Sinegugu Duma, as a member
of the South African Nursing
Council, addressed the
midwives on the latest legal
developments in midwifery.
With our students acting
as hosts, guests were treated
with tea and refreshments
and the day was a huge
success.
In the picture above are
staff of the Nursing division
with some of the guest
speakers. From the left are:
Ms Lindy van der Berg, SU
lecturer and one of the
organisers of the event;,
Dr Ethelwynn Stellenberg;
Prof Sheila Clow of UCT;
Ms Haaritha Boltman of
UCT; Ms Elmarie Earle, SU
lecturer and fellow organiser
of the event.
 In the community
Promoting health
Postgraduate diploma students of the SU Nursing division hosted a health promotion day at Simondium Clinic
recently. The 13 students
are registered professional
nurses who are completing a
diploma in Health Assessment,
Treatment and Care and
the health promotion day
represented a practical component of the course. The topic
of the day was Oral Hygiene.
T h e s t u d e n t s re c e i ve d
sponsorship from the local
farms in Franschhoek, as
well as donations such as
toothbrushes, toothpaste
tubes and items of food
for the community. At the
end of a day of fun and
laughter, each child received
a toothbrush and a tube of
toothpaste and a boerewors
roll for lunch. There was also
music, dancing and playing.
 Rural nursing
 Achievers
Working towards a paradigm shift
TSC’s top registrars
With the increased focus and awareness of research, best practice and evidencebased practice in the SU Nursing division, Dr Ethelwynn Stellenberg and a
team from the division recently presented the first Rural Research Conference on Nursing in Worcester.
The conference was attended by 120 Nursing lecturers.
Among the guest speakers were Prof Jason Farley of the Johns Hopkins University in the
USA, who spoke about infectious diseases; Prof Cathy Noakes of Hunters College, City of
New York University, USA and Prof Mark Cotton, the TB/HIV paediatric specialist from the
SU Faculty of Health Sciences. Also represented at the conference was the Johns Hopkins
NGO, JH Piego.
The conference focused on nursing research, with particular emphasis on research in rural
areas, and sessions were held on TB and HIV. This was the first of a series of research conferences and workshops planned by the Division, says Stellenberg.
“The specific purpose of these conferences is to bring
about a greater awaress of best practice and evidence-based
practice, and familiarise our lecturers with these concepts to
bring about a paradigm shift that will help them to become
internationally renowned scholars. We want to train bedside
lead consultant nurses - and thus improve health care in South
Africa,” Stellenberg says.
The division is planning a national rural conference next
year and hopes to eventually hold an international conference.
10
Below: The TSC recently honoured registrars with merit
awards for excellent teaching
skills and assistance to the
students. The awards are part
of a campaign to improve the
teaching and motivation for
registrars. The winning registrars were, from the left: Drs
Abu Mowlana, Hugo Stark and
Yazied Chotia. Mowlana and
Chotia are from Internal Medicine and Stark is from Surgery.
Briefly
 Achievements
 Achievements
FHS Bioethics
expands its footprint
Ophthalmology
registrar wins top
prize
The SU Bioethics Unit on the Tygerberg
Campus is extending its presence beyond
South African borders and expanding its
footprint into Africa and globally.
The contribution of this Unit and the
growth of bioethics nationally and internationally was demonstrated recently when Prof Keymanthri Moodley (left in the photo) was appointed to the Data and Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB) of the Division of AIDS (DAIDS), National
Institutes of Health (NIH) in Washington.
The Faculty - and Moodley in particular - has made important contributions to the growth
of bioethics as a discipline and to bioethics research in South Africa over the past decade. Most
undergraduate and postgraduate medical curricula now include extensive Bioethics training
for students in the health sciences.
Moodley will serve as an ethicist on the NIH board which is dedicated to ensuring patient
safety in the preventative HIV Clinical trials that are conducted globally. The DSMB monitors
the progress of clinical trials and has the responsibility to unblind clinical trials or even stop
trials when patient safety is at risk. She will serve on the DSMB for the next four years.
Moodley has also been invited to make research ethics contributions by two other international organizations. At a recent scientific review committee meeting of the European
and Developing countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP) in the Hague she assisted with
protocol reviews aimed at improving research ethics capacity in Africa and in September she
contributed to a seminar on the ethics of paediatric research at the invitation of the Food
Drug Administration (FDA), Maryland, the United States. In November she will take part in
Good Clinical Practice training at the annual conference of the African Organisation for Research and Training in Cancer (AORTIC) in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. This will also serve as
an important platform to launch the Enhancing Research Ethics Compliance and Capacity in
Africa programme (ERECCA) – a new online GCP Refresher course developed by the SU
Bioethics Unit, Tygerberg division and funded by the EDCTP.
Dr Sven Obholzer (left), a
supernumerary registrar
in the SU Ophthalmology
division, won the top prize
at the 2009 congress of
the SA Glaucoma Society by
highlighting a very rare ocular
complication of HIV that has
not been described in the literature to date.The prize was part
of a competition, sponsored by
Alcon, for an outstanding presentation of a unique and unusual glaucoma case.
Obholzer is a supernumerary registrar from Windhoek,
sponsored by the Department
of Health and Social Welfare of
Namibia thanks to a bilateral
agreement between the Ophthalmology division and the
government of Namibia. He
was one of three registrars of
the division who took part in
the competition. His oral presentation was titled Bilateral
Neovascular Glaucoma in a
Young HIV Positive Patient.
 Desmond Tutu TB Centre
ZAMSTAR study enters its final phase
ZAMSTAR (The Zambia/South Africa TB & AIDS Reduction study) is but one of many research studies conducted under leadership of
Prof Nulda Beyers of the Desmond Tutu TB Centre. Recently, history was made when 349 ZAMSTAR staff members from SA and Zambia
joined up at Klein Kariba, Limpopo Province, for a four day training course on the upcoming Prevalence Survey - the final phase of the
ZAMSTAR study. The survey will measure the prevalence of TB, HIV, diabetes mellitus and other chronic diseases in the sites where the
ZAMSTAR interventions have been conducted over the past three years. In South Africa 40 000 adults will be tested for these diseases
at the eight sites in the Cape Town area. The prevalence survey will take place during late 2009 and 2010.
11

cines (radiopharmaceuticals)
is to a large extent done by
nuclear medicine radiographers who have received
theoretical and practical
training in radiopharmacy. In
contrast to many developing
countries, Radiopharmacy is
an acknowledged speciality
in South Africa. The country
is very much regarded as a
leader in the field of radiopharmacy in Africa and is
expected to play an important role in radiopharmacy
training on the continent
in the next five years. This
workshop is the first activity of a 5-year AFRA project,
Strengthening and Expanding
Radiopharmacy Services in
Africa. In the picture are participants at the workshop.
Fifteen participants from
AFRA Member States, i.e.
Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia,
Ghana, Kenya, Libyan Arab
Jamahiriya, Mali, Morocco,
Namibia, Nigeria, Sudan, Tunisia, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, and
five South African delegates
attended the workshop.
bied onder leiding van Prof
Eva Maria Fenyö van die Universiteit van Lund, Swede.
Onder die fasiliteerders was
professore en dokters van
Swede, Italië, Duitsland en
Suid-Afrika en deelnemers
uit Rusland, Brasilië, Senegal,
Botswana en Suid-Afrika het
die geleentheid bygewoon.
Prof Wolfgang Preiser,
drr Corena de Beer, Gert
van Zyl en Walter Liebrich
en Mev Dalene de Swardt
was onder die Stellenbossers wat betrokke was by die
lesings en praktika. Op die
foto is Preiser en sy span
saam met die internasionale
besoekers.
Radiopharmacy workshop
Strengthening services in Africa
A workshop on Radiopharmacy training was presented
by the Division of Nuclear
Medicine, Tygerberg Hospital
and Stellenbosch University
and the International Atomic
Energy Agency (IAEA) recently. Daily preparation of
diagnostic radioactive medi-

Virologie werkswinkel
Kriopreservering
onder die loep
Prof Wolfgang Preiser en dr
Corena de Beer van Mediese
Virologie het onlangs ’n internasionale werkswinkel
by die FGW aangebied. Die
fokus van die werkswinkel
was kriopreservering en
immunologiese metodes in
HIV-verwante entstofnavorsing. Dit is moontlik gemaak
deur die internasionale
Global HIV Vaccine Research
Cryorepository (GHRC)groep wat in 2008 ’n kriofasiliteit aan die Mediese Virologie-afdeling geskenk het.
Die werkswinkel is aange-
Diagnostic research
Special SU course

Susan de Klerk

Mense
’n Nuwe hoof vir
Huis Francie
Me Susan de Klerk, tans lektor in Arbeidsterapie, is onlangs aangestel as die nuwe
inwonende hoof van Huis
Francie – die koshuis waarin
sy drie jaar as student gewoon het.
Interessant genoeg, vertel sy, is haar ouma ook jare
gelede die pos as inwonende
hoof aangebied, maar sy
het op die laaste nippertjie
besluit om dit nie te aanvaar
nie omdat haar twee dogters nog baie jonk was. “Sy is
ongelukkig in 2007 oorlede,
maar sou dit baie interessant
gevind het dat ek nou die
pos beklee.”
Susan sê haar grootste
uitdaging is om al die balle
in die lug te hou! Sy en haar
man, Johan, het ’n babadogter,
Magriet, wat net agt maande
oud is en nog heelwat aandag verg. Hoewel dit moeilik
is om alles in te pas, is die
HK van Huis Francie “’n fantastiese groep meisies wat
die skip mooi op koers hou
en inwoners is aangenaam en
baie bedagsaam”.
Tygerberg Gesprek is writTygerberg Gesprek is written, edited and produced
by the Marketing and
Communications Office, SU FHS. Please send
contributions to Mandi
Barnard at the Office on
the first floor, Teaching
Block, or to tygermar@
sun.ac.za; telephone (021)
938-9505 or Fax (021)
931-0088.
The FHS recently hosted a very
successful course on diagnositic
research, taught by Prof Madhu
Pai, of McGill University in Canada, and professor extraordinary
in the SU Community Health division. The course was attended
by our Masters in Clinical Epidemiology students, as well as SU
and UCT researchers.
12