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NRF B3 rating acknowledges Prof Martin Nyaga’s high-quality research

13 September 2024 | Story André Damons | Photo André Damons

Prof Martin Nyaga – Associate Professor and Head of the University of the Free State (UFS) Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) Unit – recently obtained an NRF B3 rating from the National Research Foundation (NRF), which is not only testament to his research prowess, but also demonstrates his unwavering commitment to academic excellence.

Prof Nyaga made a significant improvement from his previous NRF Y2 rating (categorised as a promising young researcher). His new B3 rating is assigned to a researcher who enjoys considerable international recognition by their peers for the high quality and impact of their recent research output.

“It is an incredibly thrilling experience to attain the esteemed NRF rating in the B category. Accomplishing the NRF B3 rating satiates an enormous sense of being appreciated and acknowledged individually and as an academic at the UFS. This acknowledgement emphasises the high quality of the research that I do and provides immense motivation to continue mentoring upcoming and emerging researchers in the field of molecular virology,” says Prof Nyaga.

Research output

According to him, this recognition serves as motivation to become an NRF A-rated researcher in the next rating cycle. “I am optimistic that I can meet the minimum threshold to be among the highly esteemed NRF A-rated researchers who are internationally recognised as leading scholars in their field of specialisation for their high-quality research and wide impact.”

Prof Nyaga, who is affiliated to the Division of Virology within the Faculty of Health Sciences, has an exponential trajectory in research output dissemination in reputable international conference presentations and scientific/medical journals such as Nature, Nature Medicine, Nature Communications, and Science, among other quantile 1 journals, with significant citations (3 337 times, h-index 20 and i-10 index 32). He has demonstrated unwavering commitment to academic excellence and has made significant strides within his niche research area of whole genome sequencing and metagenomics of enteric and respiratory viruses. He has not only successfully collaborated with eminent researchers both within and outside the university and globally, but his interdisciplinary research approach has led to groundbreaking studies that address complex issues from multiple perspectives.

Prof Nyaga has applied his expertise to address real-world challenges. One notable example is his involvement in community-based projects and public outreach and education. He has organised and participated in various workshops, seminars, and public lectures aimed at disseminating knowledge and raising awareness about important issues in the field of enteric and respiratory pathogen genomics. His efforts have strengthened the ties between the UFS and the broader community, enhancing the impact and visibility of the institution.

Support by the UFS

“Achieving this rating not only required self-driven research-enhancement discipline, networking, and implementation of novel concepts to enhance my NRF research rating from Y to B, but I also received substantial support from my affiliate institution, especially the Faculty of Health Sciences and the Directorate of Research and Development (DRD).”

“The UFS has put in place amazing policies and career development strategies to ensure that focused Y-rated researchers have the opportunity to become established researchers within one rating cycle of five years – a reality that I immensely thank God for enabling me to attain,” says Prof Nyaga.

These programmes include, among others, the Transforming the Professoriate Mentoring Programme, where he was part of the first cohort of members recruited in 2019.

Prof Nyaga, who has supervised/co-supervised seven PhDs and more than 20 master’s and honours postgraduates to graduation, also serves in various leadership roles, including Chairman for the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (ACDC) Pathogen Genomics Initiative (PGI), Vaccine-Preventable Diseases (VPD) Focus Group (FG), and Director of the WHO Collaborating Centre for VPD Surveillance and Pathogen Genomics. His ability to instigate and inspire as the team lead and his strategic vision for the UFS-NGS Unit are key factors in the successful execution of numerous initiatives. He is a strong advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion, and his efforts have created a more inclusive and welcoming environment for his peers and students from diverse backgrounds.

Future

He plans to undertake future research that has an impact on the national health systems and to establish himself as an international leader in his niche research area. “I hope to create a vibrant association between research and national development goals and to have a transformative effect on my area of research in a way that can influence policy by addressing national and international challenges within global knowledge innovation,” says Prof Nyaga.

His continuing research involves the use of next generation sequencing to decipher the viral component of the respiratory and enteric milieu and accentuate the critical need to define the complete spectrum of disease-causing viruses. Several previously known and unknown viruses have been detected, including viruses with previously unrecognised tropism.

Additionally, whole genome sequencing of important respiratory viruses, such as the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) (as part of the respiratory niche) and rotavirus (as part of the enteric niche), is being performed simultaneously for different countries, including South Africa, Zambia, Rwanda, Kenya, Cameroon, Mozambique, and Malawi, to enhance the genomic surveillance of specific respiratory and enteric viruses of interest.

The overall goal is to identify novel pathogens responsible for human viral diseases and to create a flexible and highly effective system for the rapid identification and analysis of emerging or re-emerging agents. This will serve four purposes: (i) improve preparedness for outbreaks, (ii) characterise new viruses, (iii) identify additional new pathogenic viruses, and (iv) provide new understanding of the human respiratory and enteric virome.

“Viruses that appear to be relevant will be prioritised to elucidate specific targets for rapid diagnostics using panels developed from the antigenic sites of the generated genomes, and immune mechanisms used to develop antiviral interventions such as drugs and vaccines,” explains Prof Nyaga.

Prof Vasu Reddy, Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research and Internationalisation, commented: “The rating bears testimony to the incredibly important and impactful work that Prof Nyaga is undertaking. The solid international footprint of his publications and their citations also confirm the relevance and currency of his cutting-edge work. The UFS is extremely proud of this signal achievement, and we wish him well with his work in the years ahead.”

News Archive

The failure of the law

2004-06-04

Written by Lacea Loader

- Call for the protection of consumers’ and tax payers rights against corporate companies

An expert in commercial law has called for reforms to the Companies Act to protect the rights of consumers and investors.

“Consumers and tax payers are lulled into thinking the law protects them when it definitely does not,” said Prof Dines Gihwala this week during his inaugural lecture at the University of the Free State’s (UFS).

Prof Gihwala, vice-chairperson of the UFS Council, was inaugurated as extraordinary professor in commercial law at the UFS’s Faculty of Law.

He said that consumers, tax payers and shareholders think they can look to the law for an effective curb on the enormous power for ill that big business wields.

“Once the public is involved, the activities of big business must be controlled and regulated. It is the responsibility of the law to oversee and supervise such control and regulation,” said Prof Gihwala.

He said that, when undesirable consequences occur despite laws enacted specifically to prevent such results, it must be fair to suggest that the law has failed.

“The actual perpetrators of the undesirable behaviour seldom pay for it in any sense, not even when criminal conduct is involved. If directors of companies are criminally charged and convicted, the penalty is invariably a fine imposed on the company. So, ironically, it is the money of tax payers that is spent on investigating criminal conduct, formulating charges and ultimately prosecuting the culprits involved in corporate malpractice,” said Prof Gihwala.

According to Prof Gihwala the law continuously fails to hold companies meaningfully accountable to good and honest business values.

“Insider trading is a crime and, although legislation was introduced in 1998 to curb it, not a single successful criminal prosecution has taken place. While the law appears to be offering the public protection against unacceptable business behaviour, it does no such thing – the law cannot act as a deterrent if it is inadequate or not being enforced,” he said.

The government believed it was important to facilitate access to the country’s economic resources by those who had been denied it in the past. The Broad Based Economic Empowerment Act of 2003 (BBEE), is legislation to do just that. “We should be asking ourselves whether it is really possible for an individual, handicapped by the inequities of the past, to compete in the real business world even though the BBEE Act is now part of the law?,” said Prof Gihwala.

Prof Gihwala said that judges prefer to follow precedent instead of taking bold initiative. “Following precedent is safe at a personal level. To do so will elicit no outcry of disapproval and one’s professional reputation is protected. The law needs to evolve and it is the responsibility of the judiciary to see that it happens in an orderly fashion. Courts often take the easy way out, and when the opportunity to be bold and creative presents itself, it is ignored,” he said.

“Perhaps we are expecting too much from the courts. If changes are to be made to the level of protection to the investing public by the law, Parliament must play its proper role. It is desirable for Parliament to be proactive. Those tasked with the responsibility of rewriting our Companies Act should be bold and imaginative. They should remove once and for all those parts of our common law which frustrate the ideals of our Constitution, and in particular those which conflict with the principles of the BBEE Act,” said Prof Gihwala.

According to Prof Gihwala, the following reforms are necessary:

• establishing a unit that is part of the office of the Registrar of Companies to bolster a whole inspectorate in regard to companies’ affairs;
• companies who are liable to pay a fine or fines, should have the right to take action to recover that fine from those responsible for the conduct;
• and serious transgression of the law should allow for imprisonment only – there should be no room for the payment of fines.

Prof Gihwala ended the lecture by saying: “If the opportunity to re-work the Companies Act is not grabbed with both hands, we will witness yet another failure in the law. Even more people will come to believe that the law is stupid and that it has made fools of them. And that would be the worst possible news in our developing democracy, where we are struggling to ensure that the Rule of Law prevails and that every one of us has respect for the law”.

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