Prof Tivani Mashamba-Thompson is a Medical Scientist (Molecular Biology) and an NRF-rated Professor of Diagnostics Research. She was appointed as Full Professor and a Deputy Dean of Research and Postgraduate Studies for the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Pretoria with effect from 1 January 2021. She is a board member of the National Health Laboratory Services (NHLS), where she serves as a Deputy Chairperson of the NHLS Research and Innovation Community. She is also a member of the National Department of Health OHSC (Office of Health Standards Compliance) research task team.

Panelists

Prof Tawana Kupe has been Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of Pretoria since 2019. He holds a DPhil in Media Studies from the University of Oslo, Norway. In December 2019, he received an honorary doctorate from Michigan State University in the US, and another from the University of Montpellier in France, in October 2021. Prof Kupe has a notable publication record, having authored journal articles, books and book chapters in his main discipline, media studies and journalism. He is an active member of several civil society organisations and is a board member of a number of tertiary education networks, organisations and initiatives around the world.

Prof Tiaan de Jager is in his second term of appointment as Dean to the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Pretoria, with an academic appointment as a professor in Environmental Health. His primary research focus is on male reproductive health, specifically related to environmental health and toxicology, where he investigates the effects of endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs), including insecticides used for malaria vector control, on these systems. His research and recommendations have informed international and national policies on water management and sustainable malaria control. Professor de Jager is dedicated to building research capacity and promoting science in Africa.

Dr Mathabo Mathebula is the Chief Executive Officer of Steve Biko Academic Hospital; a National Central Hospital that is a primary training institution for all categories of health professionals of the University of Pretoria’s Faculty of Health Sciences, Tshwane University of Technology, Nurses of SG Lourens Nursing Colleges, and specialising nurses from all over the country. The hospital is one of the two hospitals in Gauteng Province that render comprehensive Oncology services. She is a Medical Doctor by training, and she holds certificates and qualifications in health management, including Masters in Public Health (Wits University). She worked as Medical Officer at various hospitals of different levels of care in the City of Tshwane. Her management career started in 2003 at 1 Military Hospital as Head of the General Outpatient Department. She became a Medical Manager of the then Pretoria Academic Hospital (now Steve Biko Academic Hospital) and later on the Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Steve Biko Academic Hospital, where she represented the same hospital in the Research Ethics Committee of UP’s Faculty of Health Sciences. She Acted as the Chief Executive Officer of Kalafong Provincial Tertiary Hospital for 18 months, and she got appointed as Steve Biko Academic Hospital’s CEO in 2019, after having acted since 2017.

Dr Kamy Chetty has wide experience and expertise relevant to the requirements of a CEO of the NHLS. She is a medical doctor and specialist in public health medicine and has a Master’s in Urban and Regional Planning. She has over 30 years’ experience in the healthcare environment, of which over 20 years have been in senior management and executive positions. She has been an HoD of a provincial health department, and a Deputy Director General at both provincial and national levels, as well as having had some private sector experience. Dr Chetty’s strengths include public health sector leadership, corporate governance, strategic planning, operational implementation, financial management, health economics, human resources planning, training and development, health information, supply chain management, and research.

Prof Ahmed Bawa, a theoretical physicist, currently holds the position of Chief Executive Officer of Universities South Africa (USAf).  In this capacity, he is a member of the Board of Directors of USAf – the representative association of all 26 public universities of South Africa.  Until April 2016, Professor Bawa was Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the Durban University of Technology.  From 2012-2013 he was chair of Higher Education South Africa (HESA) which became USAf in July 2015. Prior to that, Professor Bawa had held senior positions at universities in South Africa and in the United States.  Among others, he has held the position of Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the University of Natal and at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.

Professor Bawa holds a PhD in Theoretical Physics from Durham University. His areas of research were Nuclear Physics and Elementary Particle Physics. He has also done work in the area of Higher Education Studies and in the area of Science and Society.

He served on a number of national policy development teams in the post-1994 period in the areas of Science and Technology and Higher Education. He was a researcher for the National Commission on Higher Education and was an inaugural member of the National Advisory Council on Innovation till 2002. He is Fellow of the Royal Society of South Africa as well as the Academy of Science of South Africa of which he was one of the inaugural vice-presidents. He is currently a member of the Council of the Academy. He also served as Chair of the Board of the Foundation for Research Development, Telkom and Sanlam and was Vice-Chair of the Board of the Atomic Energy Corporation. He serves on several international advisory boards.

Professor Bawa has been a recipient of many awards.  Among them was the Transformative Leadership Award bestowed on him by the University of Pennsylvania’s Netter Centre for his dedication to producing significant societal change, and to working tirelessly, enabling the institutions in South Africa to realise that goal. Professor Bawa is well known for advocating universities’ responsiveness to their local contexts.