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UFS academic selected to join global public health project

17 June 2025 | Story Tshepo Tsotetsi | Photo Supplied

Dr Herkulaas Combrink, a senior lecturer in the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences (EMS) at the University of the Free State (UFS), is representing the university in a new international research project that aims to improve how evidence is used in public health policymaking.

Dr Combrink, who is also a co-director of the Interdisciplinary Centre for Digital Futures (ICDF), has been selected as one of the principal investigators in a newly funded project supported by the UK’s International Science Partnerships Fund under the Evidence-Informed Policymaking Programme. Running from April 2025 to March 2026, the project – titled Integrating Evidence for Contextualised Public Health Policy: Lessons from South Africa – explores how different types of evidence can be used more effectively in shaping public health policy. The international collaboration includes researchers from the Centre for Philosophy of Epidemiology, Medicine and Public Health, which is a collaboration between Durham University and the University of Johannesburg; as well as Durham’s Centre for Humanities Engaging Science and Society.

From the Free State to global impact

For Dr Combrink, being part of this collaboration highlights the important work being done in the faculty and ICDF that is reaching beyond borders.

“It’s important to showcase the impact we are making from the Free State that leads to global outcomes,” he said.

The project aims to evaluate an evidence mapping framework to determine how model-based projections and social listening reports can be more effectively integrated and contextualised for policymaking.

“These are two very different data types,” he explained. “The value lies in demonstrating how to apply the framework to different contexts for evidence-based mapping.”

Dr Combrink brings extensive expertise to the team, having worked on both disease modelling and risk communication during South Africa’s COVID-19 response. He was involved in national and provincial social listening initiatives, and used high-frequency social media data to track the spread of misinformation, often referred to as the ‘infodemic.’

“We’ve built up enough data within ICDF and EMS to support this study,” he noted.

The goal is not just theoretical. A key outcome of the project is engaging directly with policymakers to refine modelling and risk communication strategies for future pandemics.

“This will help us to engage with the various departments of health to assist with improving modelling and risk communication work for better social behavioural change,” he explained.

According to Prof Brownhilder Neneh, Vice-Dean for Research and Internationalisation in the EMS faculty, the project reflects the faculty’s growing global presence.

“Dr Combrink’s participation is a testament to the calibre of scholarship within the faculty,” she said. “It positions EMS as a key contributor to shaping policy and practice with societal impact.”

She added that the collaboration aligns well with the faculty’s vision for global partnerships that are rooted in local relevance.

“By focusing on contextualised evidence for policymaking, this project reflects our commitment to relevance, engagement and global partnership,” she said.

What comes next

Over the project’s 12-month timeline, the team will deliver:

• a case study analysis of modelling and social listening during South Africa’s COVID-19 response;

• an extended evidence mapping framework tailored to diverse evidence types;

• policy briefs and practical tools for public health practitioners; and

• a hybrid international workshop in late 2025 bringing together researchers, policymakers and health professionals to test and refine these outputs.

News Archive

Dr Khotso Mokhele joins ranks of distinguished Chancellors

2010-11-21

Attending the inauguration ceremony are, from the left: Mr Pule Makgoe, MEC for Education in the Free State and member of the UFS Council; Judge Ian van der Merwe, Chairperson of the UFS Council; Dr Khotso Mokhele, newly inaugurated Chancellor of the UFS; and Prof. Jonathan Jansen, Vice-Chancellor and Rector of the UFS.
Photo: Dries Myburgh

Dr Khotso Mokhele joined the ranks of distinguished Chancellors of the University of the Free State (UFS) with his inauguration as the new Chancellor of the institution at a ceremony on Friday, 19 November 2010.

The lustrous ceremony took place on the Main Campus in Bloemfontein and was attended by hundreds of guests from all over South Africa.

Dr Mokhele said in his speech: “I am excited to have been invited by the UFS to join its community at the time when it is attempting to reinvent itself into an institution that will be counted amongst those that will shape the local, regional, national will, and by so doing, contribute to the shaping of an African will.”

Dr Mokhele follows in the footsteps of Dr Franklin Sonn, former Ambassador of South Africa in the United States of America and receiver of many awards, acknowledgements, and honorary doctorates, who retired earlier this year. Dr Sonn was preceded by Ms Winkie Direko, former premier of the Free State.

His acceptance of the role of Chancellor is a great honour for the UFS.

According to Prof. Jonathan Jansen, Vice-Chancellor and Rector of the UFS, it is a proud moment to welcome someone from the Province as the Chancellor of this university. With his strong academic values and deep sense of human compassion, Dr Mokhele is one of but a few uncompromising leaders. He is also an inspiring, determined pioneer and a role model to all our students.

Few have done as much to guide the development of science in South Africa since democracy in 1994 as Dr Mokhele. His vision and actions as a senior science manager have been guided by his deep conviction that for a truly democratic society to emerge in South Africa all people must be empowered to be its architects and must have unhindered access to those careers upon which our economy is built.

Dr Khotso Mokhele was born and raised in Bloemfontein. After matriculating from the Moroka High School he went on to study at Fort Hare, where he graduated with a B.Sc. in Agriculture, winning the Massey-Ferguson award for the best student in that field. As a recipient of the prestigious Fulbright-Hays Scholarship, he entered the University of California in Davis where he took a M.Sc. and a Ph.D. degree, both in Microbiology. He was awarded post-doctoral fellowships at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland, and at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.

Dr Mokhele returned to South Africa in 1987, set on becoming a top-class academic and researcher. He held lecturing posts at the Universities of Fort Hare (1987-1989) and Cape Town (1990-1992). In 1992 he joined the Foundation for Research Development (FRD) as one of its Vice-Presidents. He succeeded to its presidency in 1996 and then from 1999 to 2006 became the first President of the National Research Foundation (NRF). He successfully merged the FRD and the Centre for Science Development of the Human Sciences Research Council. Under his visionary leadership the NRF has come to play a pivotal role in the development agenda of the country. He was also instrumental in the establishment of the South African Academy of Sciences serving as its founder president (1996-1998).

Dr Khotso Mokhele's contribution to science in South Africa has received wide recognition locally and abroad. He has received nine honorary doctorates. He was made a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour by the President of France in recognition of his personal efforts in strengthening scientific ties between France and South Africa, and was appointed a director of the Salzburg Seminar, an institution focused on global change, and subsequently a member of its Council of Senior Fellows.

He also serves on the boards of major companies such as Implats, Adcock Ingram and Afrox.

Complete speech (Pdf)

Media Release
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Director: Strategic Communication (actg)
Tel: 051 401 2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: loaderl@ufs.ac.za19 November 2010

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