This award is given to exceptional young achievers in the field of research, as seen against the University’s strategic goals of achieving academic excellence, international competitiveness and local relevance.

Dr Chimere Anabanti is a senior lecturer at the Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics in the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences (NAS) at the University of Pretoria. He earned his doctorate from Birkbeck, University of London. His research is in computational group theory, where he uses computational techniques and theoretical knowledge to solve problems. Through his research, he has disproved conjectures and theorems, answered open problems, and proved several results in mathematics. He is an NRF Y1-rated researcher.

Dr Abe Kasonga is a senior lecturer in the Department of Physiology, Faculty of Health Sciences. He received his doctorate in 2018 from the University of Pretoria. His research focuses on investigating novel therapeutics that target G-protein coupled receptors in treating bone degenerative disorders such as osteoporosis. He has co-authored 13 papers in peer-reviewed international journals. Dr Kasonga received a Y2 rating in 2023.

Dr Samkelo Malgas is a senior lecturer in biochemistry at the Department of Biochemistry, Genetics, and Microbiology at UP. He has a doctorate in biochemistry and a Higher Education Postgraduate Diploma from Rhodes University. His research focuses on advancing bio-refinery for the bio-economy through biotechnology. Dr Malgas has published over 30 research papers in peer-reviewed journals and three book chapters. In 2022, he was awarded a Y2 NRF Rating.

Professor Vukosi Marivate holds the ABSA UP Chair of Data Science and is an associate professor in the Department of Computer Science. His research is in artificial intelligence (AI) and natural language processing (NLP), focusing on local and low-resource languages. He co-founded Lelapa AI, a socially grounded Africa-centric AI startup, and Masakhane NLP. His research and leadership in AI have earned him several prestigious awards and grants.

Professor Andrino Mazenda is an associate professor at the School of Public Management and Administration in the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences at the University of Pretoria. His research focuses on food security, livelihoods, and development policies. He was honoured as an Exceptional Emerging Researcher at the University of Pretoria and received a Y2 rating from the National Research Foundation (NRF) for 2023–2026.

Professor Kgomotso Mokoala is an associate professor and specialist nuclear medicine physician in the Department of Nuclear Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences. She is the Head of the Clinical Unit. Her research interests lie in the theragnostic applications of nuclear medicine in gynaecological, prostate, skin and endocrine malignancies. Her research activities have produced over 40 articles published in ISI-indexed peer-reviewed journals.

Dr Chijioke Okorie is a lecturer in the Department of Private Law and the Faculty of Law. She received a doctorate in intellectual property law and competition law from the University of Cape Town in 2018. Her research has been in the fields of copyright and the digital environment within the African context. She leads a research group, the Data Science Law Lab. Dr Okorie received a C2 rating from the NRF.

To read more about all the recipents of the 2024 Academic Achievers Click here