Wits celebrates research excellence
- Wits University
It was an upbeat post-pandemic return to campus when Wits academics gathered to celebrate research excellence.
For the first time in almost two years, Wits researchers and scientists convened at the scenic Wits Club on Braamfontein Campus West on 22 February 2022.
The research celebration was hosted by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research and Innovation, Professor Lynn Morris and Dr Robin Drennan, Director: Research and Innovation in the Wits Research Office.
The event was to acknowledge and celebrate Witsies’ research awards from the University and external research entities, and to reignite the enthusiasm and cross-disciplinary enthusiasm that in-person engagement stimulates.
The event commemorated research successes spanning the pandemic period from 2020 to early 2022.
In the opening address, Wits Vice-Chancellor and Principal Professor Zeblon Vilakazi said that as Wits celebrates its centenary in 2022, “the best is yet to come!” He paid sombre tribute to “some of the best of the best”, whom Wits had lost during the pandemic. He encouraged Wits researchers to “not be afraid to speak truth to power – never waiver and never compromise.”
Professor Andrew Forbes in the School of Physics, who was the recipient of the 2022 Wits Vice-Chancellor’s Research Award for Sustained Research, delivered the keynote address. He commented on the fact that academics’ CVs reflect their successes, “But where are our failures?”
Forbes suggested that reflecting on his “CV of failures” was when real learning and growth occurred – this from the 2022 Sang Soo Lee Award winner and recipient of the Gold Medal from the South African Institute of Physics in 2020.
Innovating for good
Professors Yahya Choonara, Pradeep Kumar and the late Viness Pillay of the Wits Advanced Drug Delivery Platform (WADDP) in the School of Pharmacy and Pharmacology received the Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Innovation.
WADDP scientists developed and commercialised the WaferMat, an ultrafast wafer drug dosage form which allows for the delivery of active pharmaceutical ingredients without the need for water, chewing or swallowing.
This is beneficial in situations where drugs are unpalatable or difficult to swallow – for example, in children or the elderly – which leads to poor compliance with drug-taking and thus aggravates healthcare challenges.
Social impact on policy and practice
Dr Brahm Fleisch in the Wits School of Education won the Social Impact award. He is a professor in the