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12 December 2024
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Dr Cias Tsotetsi, newly appointed Campus Vice-Principal: Academic and Research on the UFS Qwaqwa Campus.
The University of the Free State (UFS) is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr Cias Tsotetsi as the Campus Vice-Principal: Academic and Research on the UFS Qwaqwa Campus as from 1 January 2025.
He is currently Senior Lecturer and Assistant Dean in the Faculty of Education on the UFS Qwaqwa Campus. He holds the following qualifications: BEd(Hons), Postgraduate Diploma in Education, Magister Educationis with specialisation in Policy Studies and Governance in Education, and PhD with specialisation in Philosophy and Policy Studies in Education – all from the UFS.
Dr Tsotetsi operated in the school environment for about 24 years before joining this university in 2010. Since then, he has taught several modules in the Faculty of Education and published several co-authored research articles as well as conference papers on community engagement, teacher development, and participatory action research methodologies, among others. He is also well versed in supervising postgraduate students.
He has received awards from both the university’s Scholarship of Teaching and Learning and the Research committees for his research and academic scholastic performance. He is a member of various committees, such as the Faculty of Education Academic Advisory Board and the Committee for Title Registration and has been participating in partnerships and in NRF-funded projects with peers from universities such as the University of KwaZulu-Natal, the University of Zululand, the Durban University of Technology, and the University of Venda.
“Dr Tsotetsi has a clear understanding of the current systems and operations on the Qwaqwa Campus and is positioned to drive its development. His experience and initiatives involving staff and postgraduate students are exceptional and inspiring. We look forward to Dr Tsotetsi’s valuable contribution to the UFS Qwaqwa Campus and the institution in his new position,” says Prof Prince Ngobeni, Campus Principal of the Qwaqwa Campus.
“I feel honoured to serve the university – and the Qwaqwa Campus in particular – and look forward to working with the campus and its management to develop the research portfolio,” says Dr Tsotetsi.
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.