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17 September 2018 Photo Charl Devenish
Science Its a girl thing
Innocensia Mangoato’s research on using cannabis to reverse anticancer drug resistance has been awarded in the prestigious Women in Science Awards.

“There’s this misconception among young people that science is difficult and that it’s somehow a man’s domain,” says Innocensia Mangoato, Masters student in Pharmacology, who has just been awarded in the prestigious Women in Science Awards by the Department of Science and Technology.

Cannabis research

Innocensia won in the Master’s Degree category for her research on the use of cannabis in reversing anticancer drug resistance. Her department had to apply for a special permit to grow cannabis for research and medicinal purposes.

“Her findings have already indicated a promising reversal of resistance to drugs in a variety of cancers. We plan to explore these results further in a possible PhD,” says her study leader, Prof Motlalepula Matsabisa.

Innocensia says she’s always had an interest in science, and initially wanted to study medicine. She ended up doing a BSc in Physiology and Genetics.

She hopes that her research will help government to develop a policy around the use of cannabis for medicinal purposes which could ultimately lead to developing cancer treatment with fewer side-effects.

Female mentors

“My mentor during my Honours studies was Dr Makhotso Lekhoa. Her passion for her field and her patience in conveying it to others really inspired me. We have some very powerful women in our Pharmacology Department,” says Innocensia.

Passion for science 

“You know you’re passionate about your work when you find yourself going to the lab on Sunday afternoons!” she says. “I’m happy that I can be contributing to the knowledge production on this campus. And maybe one day I can be a mentor to other girls with that same passion for science.”

News Archive

International speakers unite to discuss diversity
2014-01-20


The Institute of Reconciliation and Social Justice is hosting a two-day colloquium on 30–31 January 2014. A broad range of keynotes will discuss the topic: ‘Diversity and the politics of engaged scholarship: A comparative study in higher education’.

Prof Jonathan Jansen, Vice-Chancellor and Rector, and Prof Dr Halleh Ghorashi from the Netherlands will lead as keynote speakers on the first day.

Prof Dr Ghorashi is a Professor of Diversity and Integration in the Department of Sociology at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. She is the author of ‘Ways to Survive, Battles to Win: Iranian Women Exiles in the Netherlands and the United States’. She has also published extensively on topics such as identity, diasporic positioning, cultural diversity and emancipation.

During the second day, Dr Charles Alexander from Los Angeles and Prof Shirley Tate from Leeds will lead as keynote speakers.

Dr Alexander is Associate Vice-Provost for Student Diversity at the University of California. He has run several programmes for students who have been underserved by higher education, including students from immigrant families and underrepresented populations. In 2011, Dr Alexander received a Champions of Health Professions Diversity Award from The California Wellness Foundation in recognition of his commitment to increasing California’s health care workforce and its diversity.

Prof Shirley Tate’s work focuses, among others, on theorising ‘race’ performativity and the intersection between 'race' and gender. She has written on mixed ‘race’ identities, affect, beauty, embodiment, pain and women in prison, transracial intimacies, gendered prison identities, racial affective economies in organisations, as well as on domestic work and food.

The sessions led by these keynote speakers are open to the public and the Institution welcomes everyone to join in this topical discussion.

Date: Thursday 30 January 2014 and Friday 31 January 2014
Time: 09:00–11:00
Place: Centenary Hall
RSVP: vannestel@ufs.ac.za 

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