Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items
Previous Archive
19 April 2024 | Story André Damons | Photo Stephen Collett
Prof Salim Karim
Prof Francis Petersen, Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of the Free State (left) and Prof Gert Van Zyl, Faculty of Health Sciences Dean (right) conferred Prof Salim S Abdool Karim honorary doctorate for his ground-breaking research in AIDS and COVID-19. He received the degree PhD in Medical Virology (h.c.) during the Faculty of Health Sciences graduation ceremony.

With the case study of Caprise 256, a young woman in his AIDS study, and her potent antibody that kills HIV, Prof Salim S Abdool Karim, honorary doctorate recipient, conveyed the message of the power of science, knowledge and discovery to motivate the graduates from the Faculties of Health Sciences and Theology and Religion at the University of the Free State (UFS).

Prof Karim, renowned for his ground-breaking research in AIDS and COVID-19, received the degree PhD in Medical Virology (h.c.) during Thursday’s (18 April 2024) graduation ceremony.

From humble beginnings

“It is great honour and privilege to be here and accept this honorary doctorate. I first went to university in 1978 and wanted to study engineering but did not have the money to pay for registration as I come from a poor background. So, I attended classes anywhere. But then I was accepted to study medicine at the University of Natal with a full scholarship and that was the end of my career in engineering.

“From that humble beginning to today where you might have watched me on TV trying to share with you what we know about COVID-19 and other infectious diseases, is a great culmination of a career and I am deeply honoured and privileged to receive this honorary doctorate”, he said shortly after accepting his fifth honorary degree.

Prof Abdool Karim, a clinical infectious disease epidemiologist who is widely recognised for scientific contributions to AIDS and COVID-19, also shared with graduates the last 20 years of his academic journey with an example to illustrate how exciting the acquisition of knowledge and thrill of discovery can be. He talked about his work with AIDS and says it remains one of the world’s greatest challenges. Last year, he said, there were 1.3 million new infections and over 700 000 deaths as a result of AIDS.

Caprisa 256’s antibody

“I have devoted almost 40 years of research to looking for solutions for the AIDS problem and one of the biggest problems we are dealing with is the high rate of HIV, particularly in young girls. In 2003 we started a study to begin to understand why young women are at such a high risk of HIV.

“We enrolled hundreds of young women without HIV. We provided them with all kinds of knowledge to try and keep them HIV-free. Amongst those women we enrolled was participant 256, a young lady and she acquired HIV infection two years later in 2005.”

It would later turn out that this young woman, codename Caprisa 256, has a very special antibody – the kind that can kill a wide range of HIV – which is referred to as a broadly neutralising antibody. It is an antibody researchers tried to ellicit in making vaccine.

It turned out that not only is her antibody able to kill a wide range of HIV, it is a highly potent antibody. After testing and cloning a cell in the blood and growing it in a culture and harvesting the antibody, it was genetically manipulated to get a better antibody.

The Director of the Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa (Caprisa), explained that it took two-and-a-half years to manufacture this antibody in the US and the first South African was injected with it in 2020. They enrolled over 1 000 women in a study with half of the women receiving the placebo and half the antibody. The question whether it works, or protects humans from the HIV will only be answered next year, Prof Abdool Karim explained. 

The 3 Ps

“What I am trying to convey to you, it’s the power of science, the power of knowledge, the power of discovery and when each of you goes out into the world, I want to leave you with the message that there are three valuable lessons that I have learned in this 20-year journey of Caprisa 256.

“The first one is find your passion, find something that excites you when you wake up in the morning. There will be people that would want to pull you down, you will have to stand firm. You have to show that you are passionate and committed and regardless of the obstacles, you will persevere. Find your passion and persevere. And as you do that, always remember the pursuit of excellence. I know that each of you will bring to this world your own humanity, your own values, and we are in this world, in a situation where we are in desperate need of people who will bring their humanity and their wisdom to bear.”

Prof Francis Petersen, Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the UFS, congratulated Prof Abdool Karim on his honorary degree and praised his groundbreaking research on Aids and COVID-19, as well as his exceptional work in medical virology over the years. “Prof Abdool Karim led the South African response to COVID-19, providing us as the public, as well as the government with scientific advice on the virus, new variants, and flattening the curve. Prof Abdool Karim has the ability to easily explain complex science to members of the general public in such a way that they are able to understand it. He played a critical role during the pandemic, and for this as well as for his research on Aids, South Africa is indebted to him.

News Archive

Enhancement of social justice focus at research colloquium
2010-10-07

At the third Education for Social Justice Research Colloquium the publication Praxis towards sustainable empowering learning environments in South were handed to Prof. Ezekiel Moraka, Vice-Rector: External Relations at the UFS. At this occasion were, from the left: Prof. Dennis Francis, Dean of the UFS Faculty of Education; Prof. Sechaba Mahlomaholo, Research Professor in the Faculty of Education Sciences at the North-West University; Prof. Moraka; and Dr Milton Nkoane, Senior Lecturer in the UFS Faculty of Education.
Photo: Leonie Bolleurs

 

This year, the University of the Free State (UFS) was the host for the Research Colloquium: Education for Social Justice for the very first time. It is the third time that this colloquium has been presented.

Prof. Ezekiel Moraka, Vice-Rector: External Relations at the UFS, opened the colloquium, stating that academics, through their research, are ultimately in a good standing to advise government on important issues such as social justice for them to address these issues accordingly.

Prof. Sechaba Mahlomaholo, Research Professor in the Faculty of Education Sciences at the North-West University, delivered the opening address on the theme: Validating community cultural wealth towards sustainable empowering learning environments for social justice. He said that the legacy of our recent past as South Africa still continues to haunt us, especially as exemplified in the dysfunctionalities that are rife in our education.

“With the colloquium we manage to bring together the ideas, thoughts, resources and efforts of educators and/or educationists concerned with the creation of a more equitable, equal, free, hopeful, peaceful and socially just society. Through our teaching, our community engagement and research activities we strive towards a more humane, caring, respecting and respectful South Africa and the world,” he said.

According to Prof. Mahlomaholo, education and its research are some of the most potent mechanisms at the very centre of social transformation. The papers at the colloquium focused on investigating, understanding and responding to issues of amongst others:

  • The medium of teaching and learning which continues to be a barrier to many learners to perform to the best of their abilities in the majority of the education institutions in South Africa;
  • Health, sexuality, HIV/Aids, stigmatisation and other deseases plaguing our communities currently;
  • Self-fulfilling prophecies and stereotypes about some learners not being as intelligent as the rest and this finally being reflected and confirmed in their poor academic achievements;
  • Differentiated levels of parental involvement in the activities of their children’s learning due to long absences from their families as they have to work in far-off places of employment;

Papers delivered at the colloquium moved beyond merely identifying the problems; they also suggested possible and plausible research-based solutions to these, such as integrating HIV/Aids education in curricula, listening to the aspirations of significant stakeholders such as mothers and parents generally in teaching and facilitating more rigorous community engagement practices.

At the colloquium gala dinner the book Praxis towards sustainable empowering learning environments in South Africa by authors Dr Milton Nkoane, Senior Lecturer in the UFS Faculty of Education, Prof. Mahlomaholo and Prof. Dennis Francis, Dean of the Faculty of Education at the UFS, was launched. The publication consists of a collection of the best peer-reviewed papers from a conference with the theme Creating sustainable empowering learning environments through scholarship of engagement. The main criterion for inclusion was that the paper should contribute to the theme by means of an original, tight, theoretical and empirical study conducted with the aim of informing the practice of creating sustainable empowering learning environments. The concrete cases examined in many of the chapters are very useful to helping readers understand the specific, on-the-ground concerns related to higher education and schools.

Media Release
Issued by: Leonie Bolleurs
Strategic Communication
Tel: 051 401 2707
Sel: 0836455853
Email: bolleursl@ufs.ac.za  
30 September 2010
 

We use cookies to make interactions with our websites and services easy and meaningful. To better understand how they are used, read more about the UFS cookie policy. By continuing to use this site you are giving us your consent to do this.

Accept