The Department of Pharmacology at the University of Pretoria supports shared learning and the continued education of the faculty of health sciences’ students and staff with the presentation of Pharmacology Grand Rounds. 

19 October 2022

In this Pharmacology Grand Round, Dr. Iman van Den Bout, Center for neuroendoctinology at the University of Pretoria, offered insights on new ways to advance cancer care for African patients. The purpose of this Grand Round was to discuss the development of bespoke organoid models of African breast cancers, their clinical context, and their need. Further development of the “liquid biopsy” method for the early identification of cancers in African patients.

Speakers argued that patient populations used in the clinical evaluation of breast cancer therapies are not representative of the African population. This lack of representation causes patients with African lineages to respond relatively poorly to treatment compared to European populations, often with a higher risk for serious side effects.

Dr van den Bout is open to collaboration and would like to put together a skilled team of researchers to develop further his ‘living biobank’ of cancer organoids and his liquid biopsy project, for which he recently received Belgian government funding.

21 September 2022

Dr. Desmond Mathye from the University of Pretoria and Health Professions Council of South Africa and Prof Marianne Unger from Stellenbosch University and Health Professions Council of South Africa presented on Physiotherapy and the use of medicines.

Connected virtually, the grand round aimed to discuss the scope of physiotherapy practice and its involvement with pharmacotherapy (including the possible inclusion of prescribing as a future responsibility).

There was a consensus among most speakers that Physiotherapy practice is a unique part of Healthcare. However, there appears to be an overlap with pharmacotherapy which affects treatment modalities. The inclusion of prescribing as a future responsibility is currently under discussion with multiple stakeholders to help ease service delivery constraints in the country. 

As with any healthcare profession, the unique contribution of Physiotherapy should be highlighted, with appropriate discussion of future extensions of the scope of practice to promote healthcare delivery in the country.

31 August 2022

This Pharmacology Grand Round saw three leading experts in the field of Cancer share their knowledge on cancer metastasis, the blood-brain barrier, and radiosensitization in clinical practice to educate scientists and researchers in the basic and clinical sciences. 

Here are the three key takeaways from this engaging session:

• Cancer cells secrete factors that disrupt the blood-brain barrier making it more permeable. 
• In silico designed analogues of current chemotherapeutic agents are currently being investigated for their anticancer effects. 
• Various cancer drugs are currently used to sensitize tumour cells to radiation therapy.

Speakers agreed that Cancer metastasis remains an ongoing challenge due to resistance to treatment. Experts recommended that novel chemotherapeutic drugs need to be identified and investigated to help alleviate the cancer burden worldwide. 

22 June 2022

Registered Nurse, advanced wound care practitioner, and owner of The Wound Clinic at Life Roseacres Hospital, Sr. Febe Bruwer, and Clinical Nurse Specialist, Independent Consultant in Advanced Wound Care, and founder of Eloquent Learning Health & Eloquent Health & Wellness, Sr Liezl Naude discussed the approaches and advances in the Treatment of Burns and Chronic Wounds.

The audience learned about developments in wound healing practice and research from two pioneers in the field of wound healing who are actively involved in clinical and academic practice on a national and international scale.

There were discussions about the current approaches to treating chronic wounds. Speakers agreed that chronic wounds require multidisciplinary teams for the best outcomes. As wound healing is an overlooked burden in Healthcare, academics and clinicians should actively establish working collaborations to overcome the knowledge gaps in the system to allow for advancement in the field. These collaborations will allow research to go from bench side to bedside, which will ultimately benefit the patient and ease the burden on the healthcare systems.