Prof Kirsty Donald presented her inaugural lecture on Wednesday, 10 May 2023. Donald is deputy director of the UCT Neuroscience Institute and for the past 15 years she has headed the Division of Developmental Paediatrics at the Red Cross Children’s War Memorial Hospital.

Her lecture titled: “Context matters: Risk and resilience in early childhood brain development”, focused on her research work on the African continent that looks at when and how early life exposures and experiences impact on the brain’s development.

View the recording of the livestream lecture here.

Prof Elizabeth Mayne is a specialist haematologist and immunopathologist, and Head of Division of Immunology in the Department of Pathology, with a special interest in the interface between communicable diseases and non-communicable diseases.

Her inaugural lecture is titled: "Racing the Red Queen - Immunology underlies all disease processes as well as the most successful treatment interventions of all time".

View the recording of the livestream lecture here.

This inaugural lecture presented by Prof Romy Parker is titled “Pain management to reduce suffering in South Africa: integrating interdisciplinary research into the healthcare professions”. 

Parker leads a dynamic and diverse team in the Department of Anaesthesia and Perioperative Medicine. She takes the audience on a reflective journey – exploring the phenomenon of pain, asking how it affects us, and what we have learnt about pain in South Africa. She will also address how to ensure that every South African has access to a healthcare professional who understands pain.

View the recording of the livestream lecture here.

Prof Salome Maswime is the Head of the Global Surgery Division; an Obstetrician and Gynaecologist, and chair of the University of the Future Project at the University of Cape Town.

Her inaugural lecture is titled, "From caesarean section-related complications to global surgical systems strengthening." Caesarean sections are the most widely performed surgery in the world, yet African women are fifty times more likely to die from caesarean section complications, than women in high-income countries.

View the recording of the livestream lecture here.

Prof Edina Sinanovic, a professor of Health Economics, Head of the Health Economics Division, and Acting Director of the Health Economics Unit at the School of Public Health, presented her inaugural lecture, titled, "Getting the most out of life – Understanding the opportunity cost of your decisions".

She reflects on her life and career to date focused on providing policy makers with the economic evidence they need to maximise the use of limited resources. She outlines the critical role of economic evaluation in health priority setting, and the work she has done in this area, especially in relation to tuberculosis interventions and the HPV vaccine.

View the recording of the livestream lecture here.

Prof Lydia Cairncross presented her inaugural lecture titled, "From Endocrine Surgery to Access to Care - the Imperative for Health Equity Action in Academic Medicine". The lecture describes the complex intersection between the pressures of delivering a surgical service in a health system under threat, and the pursuit of formal academic medicine.

Cairncross is the Head of Department of Surgery at the University of Cape Town/Groote Schuur Hospital Academic Complex.

View the recording of the livestream lecture here.

Prof Michael Held serves as a consultant in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at Groote Schuur Hospital. His primary focus lies in addressing local orthopaedic healthcare challenges by pursuing lean innovation and improving education and training in Orthopaedic surgery.

His inaugural lecture, titled "Right Down to the Bone - Orthopaedic Training and Education", explores the intricacies of UCT's orthopaedic curriculum transformation process for medical students.

View the recording of the livestream lecture here.