Professors Malcolm Collins and Mike Lambert elected as UCT Fellows

Congratulations to Professors Malcolm Collins and Mike Lambert who will be conferred the status of College Fellows at the end of the year graduations. This recognition was announced by the UCT College of Fellows at the annual Fellows Dinner held recently.

The Council of the University has established Fellowships for members of permanent academic staff in recognition of original distinguished academic work such as to merit special recognition. In considering the conferment of the Fellowship, all research and original work standing to the credit of the candidate is considered, with publications being regarded as the main evidence of original distinguished academic work. There should also be evidence of international and not only local recognition of a candidate’s work, where the field of activity of the candidate makes this a reasonable requirement.

Prof Malcolm Collins is recognised for his seminal contributions on the identification of genetic risk associated factors for common tendon and ligament injuries. He and the research group he has founded are currently internationally recognised as the pioneers and authority in this area of research. As a result, he has developed an international and national, interdisciplinary network of research collaborators, consisting of clinicians and scientists. Prof Collins was recently elected as a member of the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf) and is a member of the international steering committee of the Athlome (Athletic Genome) Project Consortium.

Prof Mike Lambert is recognised for his work on biological adaptations and mal-adaptations in response to regular exercise – indicating that adaptation to exercise is individualistic and needs to be carefully monitored to prevent distress. Prof Lambert developed a novel test to monitor the fitness and fatigue status of players using heart rate recovery as a marker of autonomic nervous system function. Prof Lambert has also been instrumental in the development of Boksmart, a programme in South African Rugby Union that is designed to make rugby safer and reduce the risk of catastrophic injury. Based on this research, he has set up world-leading international collaborations.

All of us in the Department of Human Biology would like to congratulate Malcolm and Mike on these wonderful accolades and recognition, and we join them in celebrating their outstanding achievements.