School Research Week 2023

03 Oct 2023
Edina inaugural
03 Oct 2023

One of the important aspects of a good thinking environment as Professor Susan Cleary, Head of the School of Public Health so eloquently explained, is a beautiful space which tells people that they matter. Part of making that space is through building relationships and connection, and this year’s School of Public Health Research Week did just that.

The week was a whirlwind of visits to each of the eleven Divisions and Research Units in a series of ‘open gardens’. The theme of ‘sowing the seeds of research’ allowed a free expression of things that matter to the groups and individuals. Stunning music, delicious food, clean spaces, fun treasure hunts, posters of current research, exercise, creative quizzes, formal presentations, nature, and descriptions of ongoing and past work.

The week being different from usual, there was a multimodal distribution of highlights. One being the tranquil Inaugural Lecture by Professor Edina Sinanovic, Head of the Health Economics Division touring her career. Read more

Edina inaugural

Another being the call to action during a Plenary by Professor Lucy Gilson, Head of the Health Policy and Systems Division. Dr Itumeleng Ntatamala (Occupational Medicine Division) gave an exciting glimpse into the hard work being done by the School of Public Health Transformation Committee including recently obtaining a Faculty of Health Sciences Transformation Award which will support further transformation research. And then the culmination of many doctoral students' research journeys showcased just what an incredible future we have to look forward to. 

Lucy's plenary
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The postgraduate student posters provided a wonderful overview of the breadth of work and skill of the students in the School. Out of 11 MPH and 7 PhD posters submitted, the following prizes were awarded:

Top Scoring PhD Poster:

Nesbert Zinyakatira (Public Health Medicine): "Impact of HIV during standard first-line treatment on the risk of subsequent rifampicin-resistant TB in the WC Province", South Africa, 2013-2019
 

Runner-Up PhD Posters:

Shani de Beer (Centre for Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Research): Change in HIV-related characteristics of children with infectious disease hospitalizations in the Western Cape, South Africa, 2008-2021: A time trend analysis

Yolanda Gomba (Epidemiology and Biostatistics): Translation, cross-cultural adaptation and measurement properties of measures for a South African context
 

Tied Top Scoring MPH Posters:

Tasneem Rakiep (Health Policy and Systems and Vaccines for Africa Initiative): Towards contextualised complex systems approaches to scaling-up hepatitis B birth-dose vaccination in Africa: A qualitative systematic review

Bryan Leonard (Epidemiology and Biostatistics): Patterns of HIV care prior to antenatal care and the impact on later outcomes among pregnant women living with HIV in Gugulethu, South Africa: a retrospective cohort
 

Runner-Up MPH Posters:

Semkelisiwe Ncube (Social and Behavioural Sciences): An exploratory qualitative study of menstrual hygiene management among adult women of reproductive ages from an under-resources community in Cape Town, South Africa

Aurelie Nelson (Epidemiology and Biostatistics): Postnatal clubs: Implementation of a differentiated and integrated model of care for mothers living with HIV and their HIV-exposed uninfected babies in Cape Town, South Africa

Did you attend? Let us know what you thought.

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