Two academics from the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Pretoria (UP), Prof Mike Sathekge and Dr Flavia Senkubuge, have been appointed as President and Junior Vice-President of the Colleges of Medicine of South Africa (CMSA), respectively.

The CMSA is the custodian of the quality of medical care in South Africa and is unique in the world in that it embraces 28 constituent colleges representing all the disciplines (fields of specialisation) in medicine and dentistry. Because of this feature, the CMSA has the potential to promote and advance aspects of education and professionalism common to all medical and dental disciplines.

Prof Sathekge, an internationally acclaimed researcher and Head of the Department of Nuclear Medicine in the Faculty of Health Sciences at UP, also serves as Chairman of the Medical Research Council of South Africa. On the international front, he is the President of the International Society of Radiolabeled Blood Elements (ISORBE) and has served as Secretary-General of the World Federation of Nuclear Medicine and Biology. Prof Sathekge has won various prestigious awards for his research in the field of nuclear medicine and holds a B-rating from the National Research Foundation (NRF). He has produced numerous publications that has advanced and impacted the field and community of nuclear medicine significantly, both locally and abroad.

Dr Senkubuge, a specialist in Public Health Medicine and Head of the Health Policy and Management Track in the School of Health Systems and Public Health at UP, is the first black woman to occupy such a senior leadership position in the CMSA. She is the current Vice-President of the African Federation of Public Health Associations and Secretary of the African Advisory Council on Research and Development. Dr Senkubuge’s research interests are global health diplomacy, health policy and management, leadership, and the social determinants of health. She is a philanthropist at heart and passionate about mentoring young people.

Dr Flavia Senkubuge