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22 September 2023 | Story Supplied | Photo Supplied
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 SciencesFaculty 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

UFS PhD student receives more than R5,8 million to take agricultural research to African farmers
2015-07-06

Prof Maryke Labuschagne and Bright Peprah. (Photo: Supplied)

Bright Peprah, a Plant Breeding PhD student from Ghana in the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of the Free State received an award from the competitive Program for Emerging Agricultural Research Leaders (PEARL) of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) for one of his projects.

From the more than 750 proposals for funding that were received from African researchers, only 19 received funding from PEARL. PEARL is an agricultural initiative by the BMGF to take agricultural research products to African farmers. It also aims at involving the youth and women in agriculture.

Peprah’s proposal to introgress beta carotene into farmer-preferred cassava landraces was part of the final 19 proposals funded. The project is being led by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)Crops Research Institute (CRI), and has the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and the International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) as international partners with Peprah as the principal investigator.


The development of nutrient-dense cassava cultivars needs attention to eliminate the ramifications of malnutrition among the poor in an inexpensive and more sustainable way.
Photo: Supplied

He received $473 000 (R5,8 million) for his project on the improvement of beta-carotene content in cassava.

Peprah decided on this project because the populations of underdeveloped and developing countries, such as Ghana, commonly suffer undernourishment and/or hidden hunger, predisposing them to diseases from micronutrients deficiencies. “Vitamin A deficiency constitutes an endemic public health problem which affects women and children largely,” he says.

“In Africa, cassava is widely consumed by the populace. Unfortunately, in these areas, malnutrition is endemic to a significant extent, partly due to the low micronutrients in this tuberous root crop, which is a major component of most household diets. It is for this reason that the development of nutrient- dense cassava cultivars needs much attention to eliminate the ramifications of malnutrition among the poor in an inexpensive and more sustainable way.

“To date we have selected top eight genotypes from germplasm collected from the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) which are high in carotenoids and also poundable, a key trait to Ghanaian farmers. These eight genotypes have been planted at different locations in Ghana, and being evaluated by different stakeholders (consumers, researchers, producers, commercial farmers, processors, etc.). If found suitable, the genotypes will be released to farmers, which we hope will solve some of the micronutrient problems in Ghana.

“My projects seek to develop new cassava varieties that will have both high dry matter and beta carotene which has been reported to be negatively correlated (as one increase, the other decreases). The breeding method will be crossing varieties that are high in beta carotene with those with high dry matter, and checking the performance of the seedlings later. Developing such new varieties (yellow flesh cassava) will increase their adoption rate by Ghanaian farmers,” he said.

Prof Maryke Labuschagne, Professor in Plant Breeding in the Department Plant Sciences and Peprah’s study leader, said: “This project has the potential to alleviate vitamin A deficiency in the West African region, where this deficiency is rampant, causing blindness in many people, especially children."

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