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23 January 2020 | Story Lacea Loader

Update: 26 January 2020
Bloemfontein Campus registration process to continue on Monday 27 January 2020


The registration process for students on the Bloemfontein Campus of the University of the Free State (UFS) will continue on Monday 27 January 2020 as per the registration programme.

First-year students who have not registered must refer to their email, the university’s self-service portal, and the Call Centre (051 401 9666) for information. Senior students can visit registration venues on campus if they require academic advice.

Released by:
Lacea Loader (Director: Communication and Marketing)
Telephone: +27 51 401 2584 | +27 83 645 2454
Email: news@ufs.ac.za | loaderl@ufs.ac.za
Fax: +27 51 444 6393



Update: 24 January 2020
Bloemfontein Campus registration process not to continue the afternoon of Friday 24 January 2020  


The first-year registration process on the Bloemfontein Campus will not continue after 13:00 today (Friday 24 January 2020), but will resume on Monday 27 January 2020.

This decision taken by the executive management of the university comes after a number of students disrupted the registration process this morning and prevented first-year students to enter registration venues.

Constant engagements with the Institutional Student Representative Council (ISRC) and the Student Representative Council (SRC) of the Bloemfontein Campus have taken place since the beginning of the year regarding matters of concern to students, and the executive management will continue to do so. The university management is disappointed with this morning’s disruptive behaviour led by the Bloemfontein Campus SRC, despite these regular engagements.

The situation on the campus is being closely monitored by the university’s Protection Services and the South African Police Service.

 

Released by:
Lacea Loader (Director: Communication and Marketing)
Telephone: +27 51 401 2584 | +27 83 645 2454
Email: news@ufs.ac.za | loaderl@ufs.ac.za
Fax: +27 51 444 6393

News Archive

Collaboration between UFS and Mayo Clinic to revolutionise cancer treatment
2014-06-27



Attending the lecture were, from the left: Dr Chantel Swart, Prof Lodewyk Kock, Prof Debabrata Mukhopadhyay, Prof James du Preez; back: Prof Pieter van Wyk.
Dr Swart, Profs Kock and Du Preez are from the Department of Microbial, Biochemical and Food Biotechnology. Prof Mukhopadhyay is from the Mayo Clinic (US) and Prof Van Wyk is from the Centre for Microscopy at the UFS.
Photo: Supplied
The UFS made a discovery that may have enormous implications for the treatment of diseases in humans.

Since the discovery, the UFS joined forces with the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, US, in the fight against cancer.

In this collective effort, UFS researchers would be able to assist the Mayo team to:
• see how treatment in cancer patients is progressing,
• target treatments more effectively,
• reduce dosages in order to make treatment gentler on the patient,
• track the effectiveness of the chemotherapy drugs used, and
• gain an accurate view of how the cancer is being eliminated.

Prof Lodewyk Kock, Outstanding Professor at the Department of Microbial, Biochemical and Food Biotechnology, and his team incidentally created a technique to use argon gas particles for the first time on biological material to slice open cells to look inside.

The team that supported Prof Kock includes Dr Chantel Swart, Khumisho Dithebe (PhD student), Prof Hendrik Swart (Department of Physics) and Prof Pieter van Wyk (Centre for Microscopy).

Prof Debabrata Mukhopadhyay from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, US, got to hear about this breakthrough at the UFS and a collaboration between the two institutions was established.

During a visit to the Bloemfontein Campus, Prof Mukhopadhyay explained novel techniques that make use of gold nanoparticles. These particles attach to chemotherapeutic drugs to selectively target cancer cells – dramatically decreasing the side effects to normal human cells.

For these new drugs (coupled to gold nanoparticles) to be accepted into clinical practice, visual and chemical proof is needed, though. This is where the technique developed by the UFS will play a vital role.

With the technique to look inside cells, the composition, location and metabolism of these drugs can be determined. This will aid in a proof of concept for the application of the nano-drugs. Furthermore, it will enable approval for use of these drugs in clinical trials and eventually could revolutionise cancer treatment as a whole.

For video lectures on the technique used, as well as its findings, follow these links:

1. http://vimeo.com/63643628 (Comic version for school kids)

2. http://vimeo.com/61521401 (Detailed version for fellow scientists)

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