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04 May 2018
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From left: Marné Mentz (second), Ts’epang Sello (first) and Tyler Beling (third) were in a class of their own, taking the first three spots in the 1 500m at the University Sport South Africa national championship in Sasolburg.
As expected, the Kovsie athletics team made the University Sport South Africa (USSA) national championship, held over the weekend in Sasolburg, one to remember.
Eight athletes earned gold medals, which is twice as many as last year. The total of 24 medals (including seven silver and nine bronze) is also double the number won in 2017.
They ended third, just one gold medal below the University of Johannesburg. The female athletes won the women’s competition and contributed to seven of the eight gold medals. The Kovsies dominated the 1 500m and 5 000m events in which they both claimed the first, second and third spots. They even grabbed the fourth and sixth position in the 5 000m in which Kesa Molotsane triumphed, with Tyler Beling second, and Marné Mentz third. Mentz and Beling swapped places in the 1 500m behind Ts’epang Sello.
Molotsane also won the 10 000m in a record time of 34:49.16 which is a massive three minutes and five seconds quicker than the previous record.
The 800m title also now belongs to Sello. She and Beling won a third medal (bronze) as members of the 4 x 400m relay women’s team.
The other gold medalist was Lara Orrock (3 000m steeplechase), Lynique Beneke (long jump), Esli Lamley (pole vault) and Rynardt van Rensburg (800m).
All five Kovsies who competed at the CAA Southern Region Youth & Junior Championships that took place over the weekend in Boksburg, won medals. They were Pakiso Mthembu (gold, 5 000m), Michaéla Wright (gold, long jump), Tyler (gold, 1 500m), Tsebo Matsoso (silver, 200m) and Orrock (silver, 3 000m steeplechase).
UFS Expert: Prof Felicity Burt investigates zoonotic and arboviruses
2017-12-13
Prof Felicity Burt recently received a B-rating from the
National Research
Foundation.
Photo: Sonia Small
Prof Felicity Burt is from the Division of Virology in the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of the Free State (UFS), as well as the National Health Laboratory Services (NHLS). She currently holds an NRF-DST South African Research Chair in vector-borne and zoonotic diseases. Professor Burt and her research group investigate arboviruses and zoonotic viruses.
Prof Burt’s research primarily focuses on host immune responses to arboviral infections specifically characterising humoral and cellular immune responses in patients with infections such as Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF) virus and Sindbis virus; epitope discovery for development of diagnostic tools; development of molecular and serological assays for surveillance purposes; virus discovery; and the development of vaccines.
Raising awareness of these viruses, defining associated diseases, and developing tools for surveillance programmes will contribute to understanding these pathogens as well as the public health implications.
Leads research group in papilloma viruses
Arboviruses cause outbreaks of disease in South Africa annually. Outbreaks are usually associated with heavy rainfall favouring the breeding of mosquitos, but these viruses also have the capacity to spread and become endemic in new areas where competent vectors are present.
In addition, she is leading a research group that investigates human papilloma viruses (HPV) associated with head and neck cancers and recurrent laryngeal papilloma.
The focus of this research group is to ascertain the genotypes of HPV causing these diseases, identification of novel biomarkers for early detection, and complete genome sequencing for molecular characterisation of HPV isolates.