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27 May 2019
Photo Sonia Small
Prof Francis Petersen, Rector and Vice-Chancellor.
Click
here for a letter to the university community from Prof Francis Petersen, Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the University of the Free State (UFS), regarding the recent student protests on our campuses (4 April 2019 on the Qwaqwa Campus and 21 May 2019 on the Bloemfontein Campus).
Klik
hier vir ’n brief van prof Francis Petersen, Rektor en Visekanselier van die Universiteit van die Vrystaat (UV), aan die universiteitsgemeenskap rakende die onlangse protesoptrede wat op ons kampusse (4 April 2019 op die Qwaqwa-kampus en 21 Mei 2019 op die Bloemfontein-kampus) plaasgevind het.
Tobetsa mona bakeng sa lengolo la mokgatlo wa yunivesithi le tswang ho Moprofesara Francis Petersen, Rector le Motlatsi wa Chancellor wa University of the Free State (UFS) mabapi le diketso tsa morao tjena tsa boipelaetso ba baithuti dikhemphaseng tsa rona (ka la 4 Mmesa 2019 mane Qwaqwa Campus le ka la 21 Motsheanong 2019 mona Bloemfontein Campus).
Otorhinolaryngology research hopes to decrease morbidity
2016-10-04

Prof Riaz Seedat, Head of the
Department of
Otorhinolaryngology at the UFS
Prof Riaz Seedat, Head of the Department of Otorhinolaryngology at the UFS is a world-renowned ear, nose and throat specialist and researcher. He is also a National Research Foundation C3 rated scientist.
He is conducting his research in ear, nose and throat (ENT) pathology in a developing world setting, particularly focusing on recurrent respiratory papillomatosis and other ENT conditions. “This condition is caused by human papillomavirus (HPV), infective conditions as well as allergic rhinitis,” said Prof Seedat.
Current research is aimed at further describing the epidemiology of recurrent respiratory papillomatosis, identification of the HPV variants responsible for causing the condition and markers of disease aggressiveness.
The research has led to various international partnerships such as the multicentre collaborative studies, “Genetic Susceptibility to Papilloma-induced Voice Disturbance” at the Centre for Genomic Sciences at the Allegheny-Singer Research Institute in Pittsburgh, United States, and the HPV6/11 Global Diversity Consortium at the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia.
Although most head and neck squamous cell carcinomas are caused by excessive tobacco and alcohol use, there is an increasing body of evidence to show that HPV causes a subset of head and neck squamous cell carcinomas. However, there are few studies on the role of HPV in head and neck neoplasms in developing countries.
“Through the research we have shown that recurrent respiratory papillomatosis, caused by HPV, is not as rare in South Africa as it is in developed countries and that patients usually present respiratory papillomatosis at an advanced stage when the condition is life-threatening,” said Prof Seedat.
“It is hoped that this research will help us to address the morbidity caused by ENT conditions common in developing countries,” said Prof Seedat.