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08 May 2024
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Story Anthony Mthembu
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Photo SUPPLIED
From left to right: Prof Philippe Burger, Dean of the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences (EMS) at the University of the Free State (UFS), presenting an award to Ntswaki Moshwaisi.
A cohort of esteemed academic and support staff from the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences (EMS) at the University of the Free State (UFS), received well-deserved accolades at the 2024 annual EMS Awards. Notable among them were Programme Coordinator Ntswaki Moshwaisi and Associate Professor Prof Liezel Massyn from the UFS Business School.
Prof Massyn was lauded in the Teaching and Learning category, while Moshwaisi garnered recognition in the Support Staff category at the awards ceremony held on 18 April 2024, on the UFS Bloemfontein campus.
Reflecting on her achievement, Moshwaisi expressed gratitude, stating, “The award serves as motivation to myself to keep working hard and to innovate methods and approaches towards my work.’’
The significance of the awards
Prof Massyn remarked that the awards serve to spotlight the remarkable contributions of both academics and support staff within the faculty. She considers the award as a testament to her dedication, acknowledged by her esteemed colleagues. Both Prof Massyn and Moshwaisi attribute their success to the support they receive from their peers.
Moreover, they emphasise that these awards transcend mere recognition. It will serve as an impetus to the way forward. Moshwaisi envisages leveraging her award to enhance the quality and efficacy of the programmes under her stewardship. Prof Massyn, echoing this statement, asserts, ’’It will strengthen my belief in the transformative power of teaching and make me work harder to provide quality learning opportunities to students. I am a firm believer in following an evidence-based approach and will continue to research learning and teaching.’’
Otorhinolaryngology research hopes to decrease morbidity
2016-10-04
Prof Riaz Seedat, Head of the
Department of
Otorhinolaryngology at the UFS
Prof Riaz Seedat, Head of the Department of Otorhinolaryngology at the UFS is a world-renowned ear, nose and throat specialist and researcher. He is also a National Research Foundation C3 rated scientist.
He is conducting his research in ear, nose and throat (ENT) pathology in a developing world setting, particularly focusing on recurrent respiratory papillomatosis and other ENT conditions. “This condition is caused by human papillomavirus (HPV), infective conditions as well as allergic rhinitis,” said Prof Seedat.
Current research is aimed at further describing the epidemiology of recurrent respiratory papillomatosis, identification of the HPV variants responsible for causing the condition and markers of disease aggressiveness.
The research has led to various international partnerships such as the multicentre collaborative studies, “Genetic Susceptibility to Papilloma-induced Voice Disturbance” at the Centre for Genomic Sciences at the Allegheny-Singer Research Institute in Pittsburgh, United States, and the HPV6/11 Global Diversity Consortium at the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia.
Although most head and neck squamous cell carcinomas are caused by excessive tobacco and alcohol use, there is an increasing body of evidence to show that HPV causes a subset of head and neck squamous cell carcinomas. However, there are few studies on the role of HPV in head and neck neoplasms in developing countries.
“Through the research we have shown that recurrent respiratory papillomatosis, caused by HPV, is not as rare in South Africa as it is in developed countries and that patients usually present respiratory papillomatosis at an advanced stage when the condition is life-threatening,” said Prof Seedat.
“It is hoped that this research will help us to address the morbidity caused by ENT conditions common in developing countries,” said Prof Seedat.