UCT R&I Highlights 2020-21 High res - Flipbook - Page 52
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ALAN PIFER AWARDS
FOR TWO UCT PROFESSORS
Professors Cathy Ward and Ambroise Wonkam recognised for
outstanding research with social impact.
The UCT Alan Pifer Award is given annually
by the Vice-Chancellor to recognise a
UCT researcher’s contributions to the
advancement and well-being of South
Africa’s underprivileged communities.
Ward’s research in the Department of
Psychology focuses on conflict resolution
between parents or caregivers and children.
Her work has led to the development
of Parenting for Lifelong Health, a suite
of open access, non-commercialised
parenting programmes to prevent violence
in low-resource settings.
With programmes for infants, toddlers,
young children and teenagers, parenting
for Lifelong Health has been endorsed by
the World Health Organisation (WHO) and
other international organisations.
“This is my small contribution to, hopefully,
a democratic South Africa and a world where
children can grow up safely,” Ward said.
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PRESTIGIOUS LITERARY
AWARD FOR UCT SCHOLARS
There are Mechanisms in
Place, co-edited by UCT’s
Nkule Mabaso and Associate
Professor Nomusa Makhubu,
won Best Visual Art Collection
in the 2021 Humanities and
Social Sciences (HSS) Awards.
The book is a collection of creative
responses to the Michaelis Galleries
exhibition of the same name. The
exhibition refers to the South African
Minister of Higher Education’s comments
during 2015’s student protests: “A crisis
implies that the situation is so bad that
there are no mechanisms to deal with it.
There are mechanisms in place.”
Wonkam is an award-winning and worldrenowned geneticist recognised for his
work in sickle cell disease (SCD). He is also
director of Genetic Medicine of African
Populations (GeneMAP) at the Faculty of
Health Sciences (FHS).
The award gives credit to Wonkam’s
discovery of gene variants that are key for longterm survival in SCD in Africa. It’s also a nod
to his work describing novel variants in genes
relevant to congenital hearing impairment in
populations across the continent.
“Due to the modern human originating from
the continent, the next frontiers of genetic
medicine rest in African genetics variations,”
said Wonkam.
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DR KIRSTY CARDEN RECEIVES
SENIOR WATER FELLOWSHIP
Carden is interim director of UCT’s
Future Water Institute (FWI). Her
background spans decades of
experience, including as an applied
scientist in civil engineering and
as a pollution control officer at the
Department of Water Affairs in 1987.
Carden said she was delighted that
a “holistic, changing and varied
contribution is still recognised”.
The Water Institute
of South Africa
(WISA) Senior
Fellow Membership
was awarded for
contributions made
to the water sector.
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