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30 October 2020 | Story Leonie Bolleurs

The Department of Science and Technology has extended two of the National Research Foundation’s SARChI research chairs at the University of the Free State (UFS). 

The Research Chair in Diseases and Quality of Field Crops, together with the Research Chair in Vector-borne and Zoonotic Pathogens, have both been extended for another five years. 

Prof Maryke Labuschagne, currently Professor of Plant Breeding in the Department of Plant Sciences, is leading the chair on Diseases and Quality of Field Crops.

The Chair on Vector-borne and Zoonotic Pathogens is headed by Prof Felicity Burt from the Division of Virology in the Faculty of Health Sciences.

Prof Corli Witthuhn, Vice-Rector: Research, says it was the hard work and commitment of Profs Labuschagne and Burt that resulted in the extension of the SARChI research chairs. “They have excelled in terms of student supervision and publications in high-impact international journals.  They also serve as mentors for young academics, postdoctoral fellows, and colleagues through their passion for their different fields of interest.”

Prof Witthuhn believes that this extension of the two SARChI chairs speaks of the progress that the UFS has made in terms of developing itself as a research-led university. “We are proud of the two senior academics for their supervision, mentorship, and leadership and their contribution to building our reputation,” she says. 

Diseases and Quality of Field Crops

The focus of the research chair in Diseases and Quality of Field Crops is on advancing food security and nutrition in Africa and contributing to poverty reduction and achieving sustainability goals. 

Prof Labuschagne says despite recent advances, the headlines regarding hunger and food security remain alarming: one in nine people on earth will go to bed hungry every night. Globally, 800 million people do not have enough to eat to be healthy, and a third of all deaths among children under five in developing countries are linked to undernourishment. 

She believes the uniqueness and strength of the research chair lies in a two-pronged approach, namely the breeding of cereal crops for resistance to fungal diseases, and improving the quality of crops for processing and consumption, thus making an impact on food security in South Africa and the rest of Africa through this collaborative effort. 

She is confident that the extension of the research chair will allow them to continue and to expand their research, “which has built up a lot of momentum”.

Besides the 12 PhD and 8 MSc degrees they delivered in the first five years, they also contributed significant research outputs and cultivar releases. She adds that they would like to expand on the significant international collaboration they have established. 

Vector-borne and Zoonotic Pathogens

According to Prof Burt, the SARChI chair in Vector-borne and Zoonotic Pathogens builds on existing research strengths at the UFS and aims to contribute towards identifying and investigating medically significant arboviruses and zoonotic viruses in the country.
 
“To date, the research chair has facilitated progress towards establishing serosurveillance studies for various vector-borne viruses, specifically Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever virus, a tick-borne and zoonotic virus that causes severe disease with fatalities.”

The team of researchers operating within this research chair is currently also performing studies to determine the seroprevalence of severe acute respiratory coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in the Free State.

Prof Burt has always taken the importance of community engagement into account, and with the current pandemic, she believes that it is now more important than ever to increase public awareness of zoonotic diseases.

She emphasises that the majority of new and emerging viruses are zoonotic in origin and that the current SARS-CoV-2 pandemic highlights the impact of an emerging zoonotic pathogen on society. Therefore, she feels that it is important to build capacity in this field and to focus research efforts on identifying and understanding where these pathogens cycle in nature, the potential for spill-over to humans, and what the drivers are for the emergence of these pathogens.

Prof Burt trusts that the renewal of the research chair will allow them to take advantage of the new biosafety laboratory that the UFS has invested in. “This will permit us to research pathogens that were previously excluded from our programme due to biosafety considerations.  The chair will furthermore contribute towards enhancing, strengthening, and developing research and knowledge in the field of epidemiology and pathogenesis of vector-borne and zoonotic viruses,” she says. 

News Archive

From music to theology: Stats Unit valuable in research process
2017-02-23

Description: Prof Robert Schall Tags: Prof Robert Schall

Prof Schall, head of the UFS Statistical Consultation Unit
Photo: Leonie Bolleurs

Whether it is analysing data on church attendance, climate change in the Northern Cape or injuries among elite female hockey players, the Statistical Consultation Unit at the University of the Free State (UFS) can assist researchers from the planning of research to publication therof.

Many students and researchers think that the time to consult a statistician is after their research data has been collected. According to Prof Robert Schall, head of the unit, the most significant contribution a statistician can make to a research project is often during its planning. Preferably all researchers should consult the unit early in the research process.

Statistical consultation service free for postgraduates

The consultation unit, established in 2014 in the Department of Mathematical Statistics and Actuarial Science, provides support to all UFS researchers. This service is rendered to postgraduate students at no charge.

“The unit can make a contribution throughout the research process, from the planning of the research project, through the analysis of research data, up to the publication of the findings. I have been involved in projects where, for example, a few very simple changes to the design of a questionnaire would have saved the researcher and the statistician a lot of trouble. It will be beneficial for researchers to have their questionnaires and study proposals (where relevant), reviewed by a statistician,” Prof Schall said.

“The unit can make a contribution
throughout the research process,
from the planning of the research
project, through the analysis of
research data, up to the publication
of the findings.”

Fascinating research topics deliver fascinating data
The professor assisted in a study for the Department of Soil, Crop and Climate Sciences to determine whether rainfall in the Northern Cape had changed over the past 90 years, potentially indicating climate change.

Other interesting projects he has worked on came from the Department of Exercise and Sport Sciences. “Who will not be fascinated by data sets on aspects of rugby, cricket or even netball? One significant finding was a predictor of injury in elite female hockey players. The PhD student identified a pre-season test which predicted the occurrence of an in-season injury with 100% specificity and 100% sensitivity. The finding was quite surprising, and, if the results can be replicated, obviously would be useful in the prevention of injuries,” he said.

This is, of course, not an exhaustive list of projects the unit has worked on. “Not in my wildest dreams would I have expected to be involved in projects coming from the Faculty of Theology, or from the Odeion School of Music,” Prof Schall said.

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