Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items
Categories
UFS News Media Release Research
Years
2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Months
January February March April May June July August September October November December
Previous Archive
23 January 2019 | Story Charlene Stanley | Photo Charlene Stanley
Michele Middle
Michelle Middle, CMO of Farmovs, looks forward to expanding their operations after the UFS acquired 100% shareholding in 2018.

In medical research, there are NO shortcuts.

The journey of a new medicine from lab to pharmacy shelf takes on average at least 10 years.

Michelle Middle’s journey from young medical graduate starting her first job at FARMOVS to becoming the company’s Chief Medical Officer, was more than twice that long. It was a journey that systematically and adequately equipped her to now Co-captain this flagship enterprise through its biggest challenge yet.

Michelle remembers how Farmovs started in 1974 as a research centre in the Department of Pharmacology. After graduating as medical doctor, she joined Farmovs in 1993, shortly before they moved to their current extensive facilities just south of the Sasol Library.

In 2000, international Clinical Research Organization (CRO) giant Parexel acquired a 70% shareholding, and the name changed to Farmovs-Parexel.

“Parexel really invested a lot in infrastructure and technology, bringing facilities here on par with the best in the world,” says Michelle.

Her own journey in medical research took her to George and later to the US and UK, where she held various international executive leadership positions in international companies.

When the UFS acquired a 100% shareholding in Farmovs earlier this year, she came full circle, as she returned to Bloemfontein to spearhead the expansion of patient studies in collaboration with the Faculty of Health Sciences.

“The opportunities we have here are really enormous,” says an excited Michelle.

“We are the only university in the country with this kind of infrastructure. Apart from our state-of-the-art bioanalytical lab, we also have facilities to accommodate close to 100 research participants. We now have 45 years’ experience in advanced medical research, plus established international clients. We can provide pharmaceutical companies with basically everything they need to develop new medicines.”

Another exciting development is that they are expanding their clinical-trial patient population next year from healthy individuals to people suffering from a host of chronic conditions.

“While they are part of our clinical trials, patients gain valuable insight in their own conditions. We also sometimes pick up underlying medical issues they were not even aware of,” says Michelle.

The 150 Farmovs staff members range from doctors and nurses, to technologists, medical writers, and managers. While not technically part of the university staff, they form a valued part of the Bloemfontein Campus community.

News Archive

PSP rejuvenating the South African professoriate
2016-10-25

Description: Dr Olihile Sebolai Tags: Dr Olihile Sebolai

Dr Olihile Sebolai (Microbiology) is
one of two Fulbright scholars the
UFS Prestige Scholars’ Programme
has produced. He was a Fulbright
scholar at the University of Missouri
(Kansas City) and before that
conducted work at the University
of Birmingham in the UK.
Photo: Anja Aucamp

Twenty years. That is the difference between the average age of a UFS Prestige Scholar (35) and the average age of a South African academic (55). Since its inception in 2011, the UFS’s Prestige Scholars’ Programme (PSP) has pro-actively addressed the ageing profile of academia and the need to transform the social composition of the South African academy. In doing so it has generated more than R67 million in research funding, including R10 million in student and post-doctoral funding.

The programme seeks to identify, cultivate and promote outstanding scholarship among “young” members of the UFS academic staff – those who have acquired a doctorate within the last five years. It provides support (funding applications, report writing, etc.) and helps with international placements in order to accelerate the establishment of an international footprint in expectation of the participants’ entry into the professoriate.

The programme mentors scholars from five faculties at the UFS. PSP scholars have conducted research and established collaborations in North America, Europe and Japan at institutions such as Harvard, UCLA, Cornell University, University of Michigan, University of Missouri, University of British Columbia, Oxford University, Cambridge University, University of Manchester, University of Birmingham, Basel University, University of Bologna, Leiden University, Uppsala University, Okinawa Institute of Science & Technology and Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine.

We use cookies to make interactions with our websites and services easy and meaningful. To better understand how they are used, read more about the UFS cookie policy. By continuing to use this site you are giving us your consent to do this.

Accept