February 2011

The frenetic activity of 2010 appears to have yielded considerable fruit and we begin 2011 with an accumulation of information!

We were sad to have to say goodbye to some of those who had helped us to achieve such an incredible harvest: Professor Valerie Mizrahi replied to the call of the Beautiful Cape. We wish her all the very best in her new role at the University of Cape Town. A stalwart of the School of Pathology and the Faculty, she leaves a substantial legacy. Read about one of her protégés, Dr Bavesh Kana in this issue‟s Research Profile.

We also said goodbye to the Dean, Professor Helen Laburn. Her passionate support of research in the Faculty during her deanship saw an enlivening of the research culture. The Faculty Research Office would like to thank her for her support of the researchers and research endeavour in the Faculty. Through her visionary leadership, she allowed researchers in the Faculty to blossom, to achieve immense heights and to bring great kudos to the Faculty and the University. We wish her well in her new position and are confident about the future of research at Wits as she takes up her new role as Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research.

Since the last issue of the Newsletter in December, several Faculty researchers have been honoured for their research prowess. Professor Charles Feldman and Professor Shabir Madhi were both awarded NRF A-ratings for the first time, and Professor John Pettifor has maintained his A status as one of South Africa‟s top researchers. Professor Helen Rees was invited by Bill Gates to participate in a discussion of the power of vaccines and we wish in particular to applaud Professor Maureen Coetzee, after whom a subgenus of mosquito has been named!

The year ahead looks set to be another busy one. However, with focus and determination, we are sure this will be another exceptional research year!

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