Welcome to new staff members Dr Yumna Albertus, Dr Jeroen Swart and Mrs Megan Blacker

Dr Jeroen Swart recently joined the Division of Exercise Science and Sports Medicine as a Clinical Senior Lecturer and course convenor for Sports and Exercise Medicine. After completing his undergraduate MBCHB in 1998, Dr Swart pursued a career in professional cycling. After curtailing his sporting career in 2003 he enrolled for the MPhil in Sports Medicine, graduating in 2008 and a PhD in exercise physiology, graduating in 2012. During these studies Dr Swart worked at SSISA as both a sports physician and an exercise physiologist in cycling high performance. Highlights include heading the player's medical centre at the 2010 FIFA World Cup and representing South Africa at the 2012 Olympic Games as the coach for cycling.

Mrs Megan Blacker was appointed in October 2015 as clinical educator in the Division of Human Nutrition. She completed a BSc degree in Microbiology and Biochemistry and an Honours degree in Nutrition and Dietetics at UCT. Megan is a registered Dietitian with over 13 years of clinical experience. She has worked in the UK for 9 years where her specialist area was Nephrology. In South Africa, she has worked at Tygerberg Hospital where her focus was Cardiology and general Paediatrics. At G. F. Jooste Hospital she covered the surgical, medical and high care wards. With the building of the new Mitchells Plain District Hospital, she established the dietetic service covering surgical, medical paediatric and Kangaroo Mother Care wards.

Dr Yumna Albertus has been appointed Senior Lecturer at the Division of Exercise Science and Sports Medicine. After graduating with a PhD in Exercise Science at UCT, she pursued her Postdoctoral Fellowship at the same division and developed her skills in neuromuscular physiology through research visits to Dr Angus Hunter at Stirling University (Scotland). Her area of research is neuromuscular physiology specifically using electromyography for the measurement of muscle activity and muscle fibre conduction velocity. She is currently developing the only high density electromyography system in Africa, which allows for non-invasive measurement of single motor unit recruitment. This technique will be used to measure motor unit changes in paraplegics undergoing rehabilitation using robotic walking suit. Amongst her achievements was receiving the prestigious NRF Career Fellowship Award in 2014. Yumna is a passionate researcher that loves lecturing and finds great fulfilment in supervising her students. She is an active committee member of SAWISE and involved with job shadowing. She is also a committee member of the International Society of Electromyography and Kinesiology, International Society of Biomechanics and holds Secretary position in the Experimental Biology Group. She is married to Naasief Kajee and has to two children; Mustafa (7yrs) and Haaniyah (3yrs) Kajee. She is also one of four daughters (all UCT graduates) of Faiq and Bashira Albertus. She is a recreational runner and does the odd 10 km race around Cape Town (unfortunately not a Comrade hopeful). She also loves travelling and exploring new cities.