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Mogotsi
Milton Mogotsi, a PhD student in Medical Virology, won the Dr Lehlohonolo Mathengtheng Trophy at the Faculty of Health Sciences’ Faculty Research Forum.

Milton Mogotsi, a PhD student in Medical Virology, was awarded the Dr Lehlohonolo Mathengtheng Trophy at the recently held Faculty of Health Sciences’ Faculty Research Forum. 

Mogotsi was the recipient of the trophy for best presentation by a PhD student in the laboratory category. He is supervised by Prof Martin Nyaga, Associate Professor in the Division of Virology and Head of UFS-NGS Unit, and co-supervised by Prof Trudi O’Neill, Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Biochemistry.

The Research Forum offers staff members and postgraduate students an opportunity to present the results of their research. The Faculty Research Forum aims to provide a platform to disseminate outputs and findings of all the research conducted in the faculty, and to also provide junior researchers/postgraduate students exposure.

Results of his study 

Mogotsi presented the results of his PhD study titled “Longitudinal gut virome analysis provides insights into early gut colonisation and temporal dynamics in paediatric subjects from the Free State Province, South Africa”. His research sought to understand the longitudinal evolution of viruses colonising the gastrointestinal tract of infants during their first year of life. In this study, metagenomic next generation sequencing was performed on faecal specimens collected longitudinally from a cohort of 17 infants during their first six months. These infants were recruited from three public hospitals around Bloemfontein after consent was attained from the mothers. 

The results of this study revealed that the guts of infants are highly colonised by diverse and dynamic viral communities, formed by a richness of different viruses infecting humans, predominantly those that are associated with gastroenteritis in children. These pathogenic agents were detected as early as one day old and increasing in abundance and diversity over time, even in the absence of clinical manifestations. 

The detection of such pathogenic viruses highlights the importance of screening for intestinal pathogens at an early age to close existing gaps and enhance the effectiveness of current treatment. In addition, the detection of viruses of unknown origin in faeces of infants underscores the need to extend sampling to mothers to better understand transmission patterns of such pathogens. Importantly, interventions to improve water quality, sanitation, and hygiene at the household level would be very impactful in minimising viral transmissions to infants and reducing the high childhood morbidities and mortalities in Africa.

A great honour

“As an emerging research virologist, presenting at such forums provides me with a platform to introduce my research, but also presents the opportunity to initiate discussions with other researchers, and exchange ideas that can help improve my future scientific approaches,” says Mogotsi. 

“Being awarded the Dr Lehlohonolo Mathengtheng Trophy is such a great honour, and it came at the right time when I’m near completion of my PhD. It has really motivated me to work even harder and make sure I obtain this qualification. However, this would not have been possible without the guidance and support from my supervisor, Prof Nyaga. I want to thank him for giving me the opportunity to conduct this research project under his supervision. The continued support and encouragement from my colleagues in the UFS-Next Generation Sequencing Unit is also highly appreciated,” he concludes.

Mogotsi is finalising the write-up of his PhD thesis which he will be submitting in November 2023 for examination and is also preparing manuscripts for submission in high-impact internationally recognised peer-review journals. 

Other winners:

  • John van der Riet Medal Winners

Robyn Smith, Veronica Ntsiea, Stephen Brown, and Joanne Potterton, Department of Physiotherapy, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, UFS.

Pre-operative neurodevelopmental assessment in young children undergoing cardiac surgery in central South Africa: feasibility and clinical value.

  • Muller Potgieter Medal Winners

Johannes van den Heever, Christiaan Jordaan, Angelique Lewies, Dreyer Bester, Jacqueline Goedhals, Lezelle Botes, Pascall Dohmen, and Francis Smit, Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, School of Clinical Medicine, UFS.

Comparison of the function and structural integrity of cryopreserved pulmonary homografts versus decellularised pulmonary homografts after 180 days implantation in the juvenile ovine model.

  • Kerneels Nel Medal Winners 

Lizemari Hugo-Van Dyk, Champion Nyoni, Margaret Williams, and Benjamin Botha, School of Nursing, UFS.

Preceptor support during the COVID-19 pandemic: Recommendations for continuing development.

News Archive

Research project gives insight into the world of the deaf
2005-11-30

Mr Akach in conversation (using sign language) with his assistant Ms Emily Matabane. Photo: Lacea Loader

UFS research project gives insight into the world of the deaf

The Sign Language Division of the University of the Free State’s (UFS) Department of Afro-Asiatic Studies and Language Practice and Sign Language has signed a bilateral research project with the universities of Ghent and Brussels to write a book on sign language. 

“We want to compare the Belgium and South African sign languages with each other.  The book will be about the deaf telling us about themselves and how they live.  It will also focus on the use of story telling techniques and the grammar used by deaf people.  We want to see if the hand forms and the grammatical markers and other linguistic features that deaf people from these two countries use are the same or not,” said Mr Philemon Akach, lecturer at the UFS Sign Language Division and coordinator of the research.  

According to Mr Akach, the sign language community in South Africa, with about 600 000 deaf people who use South African Sign Language (SASL) as first language, is quite big.  “Over and above the deaf people in South Africa, there are also the non-deaf who use SASL, like the children of deaf parents etc.  This book can therefore be used to teach people about the deaf culture,” he added.

Another of Mr Akach’s achievements is his election as Vice-President of the newly established World Association of Sign Language Interpreters (WASLI).  The association was established earlier this month during a conference in Worcester.

Mr Akach has been actively involved with sign language interpretation since 1986 and has been interpreting at the World Congress of the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) since 1987.  “My appointment as Vice-President of the WASLI is an emotional one.  I have been involved with deaf people for so long and have been trying to create awareness and obtain recognition for sign language, especially in Africa,” said Mr Akach.  WASLI is affiliated to the WFD.

According to Mr Akach there was no formal structure in the world to support sign language and sign language interpreters.   “Now we have the backup of WASLI and we can convince governments in other African countries and across the world to support deaf people by supporting WASLI and therefore narrow the communication gap between the deaf and the hearing.  My main aim as Vice-President is to endeavour for the recognition of sign language and spoken language interpreters as a profession by governments,” he said. 

According to Mr Akach the formal training of interpreters is of vital importance.  “Anybody who has a deaf person in his/her family and can communicate in sign language can claim that they are an interpreter.  This is not true.  It is tantamount to think that all mother tongue or first language speakers are interpreters.  Likewise students who learn sign language up to whatever level and are fluent in signing, should still join an interpreter’s programme,” he said.

“Sign language interpreting is a profession and should be presented as an academic course alongside other spoken languages.  The UFS has been taking the lead with sign language and spoken language interpretation and was the first university on the African continent to introduce sign language as an academic course,” he said.

“Although sign language has always been an unknown language to young people it has become quite popular in recent years.  This year we had a total of 160 students at the Sign Language Section of the UFS and the numbers seem to increase steadily every year,” he said.

Mr Akach’s assistant, Ms Emily Matabane, is deaf and they communicate in sign language.  Ms Matabane also handles the tutorials with students to give them hands-on experience on how to use sign language.  


Media release
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Media Representative
Tel:   (051) 401-2584
Cell:  083 645 2454
E-mail:  loaderl.stg@mail.uovs.ac.za
30 November 2005

 

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