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13 September 2021 | Story Dr Nitha Ramnath

As a public higher-education institution in South Africa with a responsibility to contribute to public discourse, the University of the Free State (UFS) will be presenting the webinar as part of the Free State Literature Festival’s online initiative, VrySpraak-digitaal. 

The aim of the webinar series is to discuss issues facing South Africa by engaging experts at the university and in South Africa. Some of the topics for 2021 include, among others, reimagining universities for student success; corruption in South Africa – the endemic pandemic; South African politics and the local government elections; and Is South Africa falling apart. In 2020, the webinar series saw the successful participation of leading experts discussing COVID-19 and the crisis facing the country socially, economically, and politically. 

This year, in lieu of the Free State Arts Festival, the UFS will present the webinar virtually over a period of six months. 

Fifth webinar presented on 28 September 2021

A number of surveys have found some degree of vaccine hesitancy among the public. This webinar will clarify why we need to vaccinate against COVID-19 and why vaccines are safe. A major development in the COVID-19 pandemic has been the arrival and distribution of safe and effective vaccines. As the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 spreads around the world, the vaccine has proven to be safe and effective enough to prevent severe life-threatening COVID-19 complications. Although vaccines do not fully protect everyone who is vaccinated, nor guarantee zero transmission, a great deal of adherence to other measures is still required. Returning to a new normal routine of life can only happen as more people are vaccinated.


Date: Tuesday, 28 September 2021
Topic: Why vaccinate?
Time: 12:30-14:00
RSVP: Alicia Pienaar, pienaaran1@ufs.ac.za by 24 September 2021 

Facilitator:

Prof Francis Petersen
Rector and Vice-Chancellor, UFS

Panellists:

Prof Adrian Puren
Acting Executive Director
National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD)

Dr Nicholas Pearce

Head of Department: Surgery
Faculty of Health Sciences, UFS


Prof Glenda Gray
President and CEO
South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC)

Dr Angelique Coetzee
Chairperson
South African Medical Association (SAMA)


Bios of speakers:

Prof Puren is the newly appointed Acting Executive Director of the NICD since December 2020. He was trained and held a lectureship at the University of the Witwatersrand, before taking on various positions at the NICD. Prof Puren was appointed as Deputy Director and Head of Virology in 1999, and as Head of the Centre for HIV and STIs in 2017.  As Head of Virology, he focused on developing and implementing a range of viral diagnostic platforms in support of the NICD’s EPI surveillance programmes and diagnostic support.

His main interest is in the development of HIV surveillance programmes, with a particular focus on HIV incidence and the use of ‘big data’ to inform surveillance, monitoring, and evaluation. Prof Puren heads the regional and national endpoint diagnostics laboratory for HVTN-supported vaccine and antibody-mediated preventions trials, and he serves as the quality assurance technical manager for the NICD. In this capacity, he has provided support to the National Department of Health’s implementation and quality assurance of HIV rapid testing. Prof Puren serves on various expert bodies, the most recent of which is the South African Lancet Commission on High-Quality Health in the era of Sustainable Development Goals.

Dr Nicholas Pearce

Dr Pearce graduated from the University of the Witwatersrand in 2002, after which he completed his internship at the Universitas Academic Hospital in 2003 and has been in the Free State ever since. He completed his postgraduate training at the University of the Free State and obtained a master’s degree in General Surgery as well as a Fellowship in General Surgery from the College of Surgeons to qualify as a subspecialist in vascular surgery.

Over the years, Dr Pearce has been a consultant in general surgery, a vascular fellow and head of vascular surgery, and is currently the Head of General Surgery at the University of the Free State as well as in the Free State province. He serves on the national Association of Surgeons of South Africa (ASSA), is a member of the Vascular Society of Southern Africa and is an examiner for the College of Surgeons. He also serves on the board of the College of Surgeons as an executive member, is a member of the European Society for Vascular Surgery, and an executive member of the Surgical Research Society of South Africa.

He is responsible for undergraduate, postgraduate, and subspecialist training at the University of the Free State, as well as nationally, and is often an examiner at other institutions throughout South Africa. His publications over the years have been in the surgical field on diverse topics covering the ambit of surgery in South Africa. 

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, he has been instrumental in setting up multiple field and surge facilities throughout the province, as well as several vaccination sites. Dr Pearce has also been involved in multiple studies on COVID-19 over the past year, is currently serving as a provincial task team member for COVID-19 and is also the Universitas COVID-19 task team chair.

Prof Glenda Gray is the President and CEO of the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) and former Chair of the Research Committee on COVID-19, providing scientific evidence and experience to the Minister of Health and the National Coronavirus Command Council. 

Prof Gray studied medicine and paediatrics at Wits University, where she remains Full Professor: Research in the School of Clinical Medicine. She is a National Research Foundation A1-rated scientist and is world-renowned for her research on HIV vaccines and interventions to prevent mother to child transmission of HIV. Prof Gray, together with James McIntyre, co-founded and led the globally eminent Perinatal HIV Research Unit at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto, for which she and McIntyre received the Nelson Mandela Health and Human Rights Award in 2002.

She is co-principal investigator of the National Institutes of Health-funded HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN) and directs the programme in Africa. 

Prof Gray’s accolades include, among others, the Hero of Medicine Award from the International Association of Physicians in AIDS Care, and the Outstanding Africa Scientist Award from the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership.

She was named one of Africa’s 50 Most Powerful Women by Forbes, and by TIME as one of the world’s 100 Most Influential People. In 2013, Prof Gray was awarded South Africa’s highest honour, the Order of Mapungubwe. Her qualifications include MBBCh (Wits), FCPaeds (SA), DSc (honoris causa Simon Fraser University), DSc (honoris causa Stellenbosch University), and LLD (honoris causa Rhodes University).


Dr Angelique Coetzee is the National Chair of the South African Medical Association (SAMA) and is leading Pillar 5 on health service delivery of the Presidential Health Summit. She has extensive knowledge of private practice and is a member of various initiatives driving primary healthcare. Over the years, Dr Coetzee held numerous chair and vice chair positions in the SAMA on national and branch level. Dr Coetzee was a member of the National Ministerial Task Team on Military Hospitals in 2013; Chairperson Ministerial Medical Task Team on Internal and External Deployment SANDF 2014, and was elected as Vice Chair of the Medical Parole Advisory Board 2011.
Her credentials include BMedSci and MBChB (University of Pretoria), Post graduate Certificate in Advanced Health Management (CUM LAUDE)  FPD, Post graduate Higher Certificate in Criminal Justice and Forensic Investigations at the Faculty of Law from the University of Johannesburg , . She is currently completing her fraud examiners certificate with the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE).


News Archive

Outstanding alumni celebrated at the Chancellor’s Distinguished Alumni Awards
2017-08-28

 Description: Outstanding alumni celebrated at the Chancellor’s Distinguished Alumni Awards  Tags: Outstanding alumni celebrated at the Chancellor’s Distinguished Alumni Awards

From the left: Former Miss World and UFS Medical student, Rolene Strauss; Rector and Vice-Chancellor,
Prof Francis Petersen; The Chancellor’s Distinguished Alumnus of the Year,
Vian Chinner; and Chancellor of the UFS, Dr Khotso Mokhele. Photo: Charl Devenish

 

Alumni Awards Photo Gallery 

Alumni are the heart and soul of a university, a legacy that lives on for generations, bringing pride to the alma mater. Each year, the University of the Free State (UFS) through the Chancellor’s Distinguished Alumni Awards, celebrates its outstanding alumni, who have stood out among their peers, making waves in their careers, at home and abroad. The UFS Chancellor, Dr Khotso Mokhele, said the university plays a pivotal role in ensuring that students enjoy a life-long relationship with their alma mater.  He encouraged the UFS management to create opportunities to engage students during their years of study, in order to create this mutually-beneficial relationship into the future.

The Chancellor’s Distinguished Alumnus of the Year Award, the highest honour accorded to an alumnus, recognises the distinguished national or international achievements of its recipient. The award was presented to Vian Chinner, chief executive officer at Xineoh, a performance marketing company he founded in 2014. The company, based in Bloemfontein, with offices in Cape Town, Oregon in the US, and Vancouver in Canada, specialises in applying mathematical modelling and machine learning to optimise conversion in industries including real estate, mortgage banking and e-commerce. It has generated more than $30 million in revenue for its clients.

The Young Alumnus of the Year Award acknowledges the achievements of alumni who graduated within the past decade and was presented to Leah Molatseli, founder and managing director of Lenoma Legal, who graduated with an LLB at UFS in 2010.

The Cum Laude Award is bestowed upon an alumnus in recognition of excellence in any field, whether vocational or voluntary. The awards in this category were presented to three alumni:

David Abbey, Acquisition and Leveraged Finance Deal Maker at Rand Merchant Bank. David graduated with a BCom Accounting (RU) 2007 and a BCom Hons Accounting (UFS) in 2008.

Johan Eksteen, Agricon Pelleting, graduated with an MSc in Sustainable Agriculture in 1998, and received an MBA in 2005, both at the UFS.

Zola Valashiya, Co-founder and director: Debate Afrika and Schools Projects and Campaigns Manager at Corruption Watch. He graduated with an LLB (UFS) in 2014, and Masters of Public Administration (Central European University, Hungary) in 2016. He is a Mandela Rhodes Scholar (2015) and a Young African Leadership Initiative Mandela Washington Fellow (2017) and is presently featured on the Mail & Guardian list of top 200 young South Africans.

The Executive Management Award:
this service award is presented to an individual who has delivered exceptional service to the UFS and is not limited to alumni of the institution, current students and the community at large. The award was presented to Sarina Cronje, Head of Athletics at KovsieSport.

She graduated with a Bachelor of Science (UFS) in 1977 and a Postgraduate Diploma in Higher Education (UFS) in 1983. She is a mother and career woman, whose family carries the same passion and drive for sports that champions are made of.

The Kovsie Ambassador Award is bestowed upon a current student whose achievements have brought him/her distinction, benefited his/her community, and brought credit to the UFS.

Crystal-Donna Roberts graduated with a BA Drama and Theatre Arts (UFS) in 2005. She is an active television, theatre and film actress who has appeared in a multitude of theatre productions in addition to starring in Afrikaans soap opera “7de Laan, Getroud Met Rugby, Montana” and “Vallei van Sluiers” in which she won public favour. She is currently playing the lead role in the internationally acclaimed film, “Krotoa” which has won numerous awards including Best Film at the Harlem International Film Festival in New York. It also won the Award of Excellence at the International Film Festival for Women: Social Issues and Zero Discrimination, and many more.

Franco Smith, Director: Free State Rugby and Assistant Coach: Springboks. He graduated with a BA Human Movement Sciences (UFS) in 1996 and began his career in rugby in 1999 when he was selected for the Free State Under-18 Craven Week team. He became a regular on the Free State Under-20 and the UFS Shimlas teams prior to his Free State Cheetahs debut in 1992. Franco was reappointed backline coach of the Cheetahs and head coach of the Shimlas in 2015. With many accolades to his name an illustrious career in coaching and management over the years, the name Franco Smith should not be foreign to true rugby connoisseurs.

The Rector and Vice-Chancellor, Prof Francis Petersen, congratulated all the award recipients: “I applaud all alumni; you have made the city of Bloemfontein and the whole province proud.” The National Executive Alumni Chairperson, Dr Pieter du Toit, congratulated the award recipients and thanked the leadership of the university as well as the event organisers. 

The awards signify the great esteem with which the UFS holds its alumni and the community that helps to drive its vision, cherish its history and pave the way for more outstanding Kovsies of the future.

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