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Wamkelekile, Welkom
Wamkelekile, Welkom
Africa has higher death rate among critically ill COVID-19 patients than any other world region, study suggests
Death rates among adults in the 30 days after being admitted to critical care with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 infection appear considerably higher in Africa than globally, according to a prospective observational study from 64 hospitals in 10 African countries published in The Lancet .
21 May 2021
Experts call for urgent action to reduce global burden of cardiovascular disease in women by 2030 – The Lancet
In the first-ever global report on cardiovascular disease (CVD) in women, researchers call for urgent action to improve care and prevention, fill knowledge gaps, and increase awareness to tackle the worldwide leading cause of death among women.
19 May 2021
Ground-breaking XACT Model project set to revolutionise TB diagnosis and treatment
The ground-breaking XACT Model project, which seeks to advance community-based active case finding (ACF) of tuberculosis (TB) using point-of-care molecular technology, has now entered a critical multilayer phase in four sub-Saharan African countries, including South Africa. The project is set to revolutionise TB diagnosis and treatment and take diagnostic tests out of the laboratory and into the community.
19 May 2021
UCT alum presented with prestigious Whitley Award
South African conservationist and University of Cape Town (UCT) alum Lucy Kemp has received a prestigious Whitley Award worth over R790 000 to align traditional beliefs with new conservation action that will protect the Southern Ground-hornbill and its habitat.
18 May 2021
Statement by the UCT executive on the Israeli-Palestine conflict
We are deeply disturbed by the escalating situation in the conflict in Israel and Palestine. Our experience with the democratic transition in South Africa is a lesson about the power of empathy, negotiation and compromise. The escalating situation in Israel and Palestine thus serves as a reminder that intractable conflicts can only be solved through peaceful negotiation.
18 May 2021
UCT professor elected as Fellow of the Royal Society
William Bond, Emeritus Professor at the University of Cape Town’s Department of Biological Sciences, has been elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society, the world’s oldest scientific academy. Bond is the seventh South African to be accorded the honour and will join the ranks of other icons of science, including Charles Darwin, Isaac Newton and Stephen Hawking, when he is inducted as a Fellow later this year.
18 May 2021
South Africa’s longest-running public arts festival is back to (Un)Infect the City
In partnership with the University of Cape Town’s (UCT) Institute for the Creative Arts (ICA), Infecting the City (ITC) – South Africa’s longest-running public arts festival – is back for its 12th edition. It started on 8 May and runs until 30 June 2021 throughout Cape Town’s city centre, in locations across the Cape Flats, and online.
13 May 2021
UCT celebrates the extraordinary role nurses play in society
“Nursing is not just a profession, it’s a skill and an attitude. It’s about developing a close relationship with your patients. It’s the ability to make a difference in the world – one patient at a time. The compassion and passion that nurses bring to the profession are two of the most highly regarded and valued aspects of their role – not just in South Africa, but also in the world.”
12 May 2021
Simulated satellite camera to aid vegetation monitoring in South Africa
A master’s student from the University of Cape Town’s (UCT) SpaceLab, whose dissertation focuses on how a simulated satellite can aid vegetation monitoring in South Africa, was handpicked to present his paper at the 2021 SpaceOps Conference, the 16th International Conference on Space Operations held virtually last week.
12 May 2021
UCT scientists scoop Human Frontier Science Program Award to study the genetics of floral asymmetry in South African plants
A research team of international scientists including University of Cape Town’s (UCT) Professor Nicola Illing of the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, have been awarded a prestigious Research Grant from the International Human Frontier Science Program Organization.
11 May 2021
The surprising evolutionary history of our oral bacteria
A new study by a multidisciplinary international research team, including University of Cape Town (UCT) biological anthropologist Associate Professor Victoria Gibbon has discovered unexpected clues about human evolution and health after reconstructing the oral microbiomes of Neanderthals, primates, and humans, including the oldest oral microbiome ever sequenced from a 100 000-year-old Neanderthal.
11 May 2021
New climate fiction game shows how our choices will shape the future
Today, 10 May, people around the world will get to decide what their climate futures will look like by playing Survive the Century , a climate fiction game about the political, environmental and social choices humans will face between 2021 and 2100 as we adapt to the ravages of climate change. This online game is a work of fiction, but it is informed by real science.
10 May 2021
Scaled up bioinformatics training to help scientists tackle continent’s urgent health challenges
Bioinformatics training is being delivered on an unprecedented scale throughout Africa to help scientists tackle some of the continent’s most urgent health challenges, thanks to a new collaboration between Wellcome Connecting Science and H3ABioNet , the Pan African Bioinformatics Network for the Human Heredity and Health in Africa (H3Africa).
07 May 2021
UCT professor highlights the needs of autistic people in Africa
Founding director of the Centre for Autism Research in Africa (CARA) based at the University of Cape Town (UCT), Professor Petrus de Vries, has called for autism researchers worldwide to work in closer partnership with families and communities and to build more capacity for autism research in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC).
07 May 2021
Sub-Saharan Africa in desperate need of clinical haematologists
Sub-Saharan Africa faces a shortage of clinical haematologists. This urgently necessitates that more medical professionals embrace this branch of medicine and receive adequate training to specialise in this scarce skills area.
06 May 2021
NBTs will not be part of the admission criteria to UCT in 2021
The National Benchmark Tests have been a requirement for undergraduate admission at the University of Cape Town. Given the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the testing programme, the NBTs will not be part of the admission criteria to UCT in 2021.
31 May 2020