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Qwaqwa Campus to host 46th SAAB Conference

30 December 2019 | Story Thabo Kessah | Photo Rian Horn

UFS Qwaqwa Campus — Hundreds of international botanists will be attending the 46th SAAB Annual Conference on the Qwaqwa Campus.

The University of the Free State Qwaqwa Campus is gearing up to host the 46th Annual Conference of the South African Association of Botanists from 7 to 10 January 2020. Talking about the choice of venue, Chairperson of the Local Organising Committee, Dr Sandy-Lynn Steenhuisen, said the unique setting in the shadow of the Maloti-Drakensberg Mountains highlights the Qwaqwa Campus as a fantastic base for interdisciplinary montane studies. “This is the home of the Afromontane Research Unit (ARU), and it will also give the delegates an opportunity to explore a treasure trove of botanical diversity on a post-conference tour to the top of the Amphitheatre in the Northern Drakensberg,” she said.

International delegates

“The conference will be attended by approximately 250 delegates representing at least 10 countries. We are very excited to host two international and two national plenaries, namely Prof Peter Linder (University of Zürich), Prof Felipe Amorim (São Paulo State University – UNESP), Prof Annah Moteetee (University of Johannesburg), and our Young Botanist award winner from SAAB 2019, Ryan Rattray from GeneLethu Laboratories.”

SAAB 2020 is open to all researchers, industry partners, and citizen scientists from any botanical field. “The theme will embrace Qwaqwa’s cultural heritage by using the Sesotho phrase ‘Dimela ke bophelo’, which translates to ‘Plants are life’. This theme emphasises the dependence of all earthly life on plants. Delegates are offered the opportunity to book residence accommodation adjacent to the conference venue, and our conference organisers, XL Millennium, are eager to help with registration and any travel arrangements,” she added.

Botanists to be awarded

The conference will also be honouring botanists for their lifetime contributions to the field of plant sciences with the awarding of gold and silver medals, and the best doctoral thesis from the previous year with a bronze medal. These will be awarded during the gala dinner at the end of the conference.

News Archive

Medical team performs first hybrid procedure in the Free State

2014-12-08

The days when a heart operation meant hours in an operating theatre, with weeks and even months of convalescing, will soon be something of the past.

A team of cardiologists from the University of the Free State’s (UFS) Faculty of Health Sciences once again made medical history when they performed the first hybrid procedure in the Free State.

The Department of Paediatric Cardiology, in conjunction with the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, performed this very successful procedure on a 45-year-old woman from Kuruman.

During the procedure of 30 minutes, the patient’s thorax was opened up through a mini thoracotomy to operate on the beating heart.

“The patient received an artificial valve in 2011. Due to infection, a giant aneurism developed from the left ventricle, next to the aorta. Surgery would pose a very high risk to the patient. Furthermore, her health was such that it would contribute to problems during open-heart surgery,” explains Prof Stephen Brown, Head of the UFS’s Department of Paediatric Cardiology.

“After the heart was opened up through a mini thoracotomy, the paediatric cardiologists performed a direct puncture with a needle to the left ventricle cavity. A Special sheath was then placed in the left ventricle to bypass the catheters. Aided by highly advanced three-dimensional echocardiography and dihedral X-ray guidance, the opening to the aneurism, located directly below the artificial aorta valve, was identified and the aneurism cannulated.”

During the operation, a special coil, called a Nester Retractor, was used for the first time on a patient in South Africa to obtain stasis of extravasation and ensure the stability of devices in the aneurism.

“This is highly advanced and specialist work, as we had to make sure that the aneurism doesn’t rupture during manipulation and the devices had to be positioned in such a way that it doesn’t cause obstruction in valve function or the coronary artery. The surgical team was ready all the time to switch the patient to the heart-lung machine should something go wrong, but the procedure was very successful and the patient was discharged after a few days.”

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