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Wamkelekile, Welkom
Wamkelekile, Welkom
Study finds being male and obese are not associated with ICU mortality in COVID-19 patients
A new international study has shown that contrary to some previous research, being male and increasing body mass index (BMI) are not associated with increased mortality in COVID-19 in patients admitted into intensive care (ICU).
30 Jun 2021
Eid gatherings may have inadvertently precipitated high COVID-19 deaths in the Muslim community
Close social interactions during the period leading up to and including on the Eid day are likely to have inadvertently precipitated high COVID-19 deaths in the Muslim community, according to South Africa’s leading medical scientists.
29 Jun 2021
Portal to understand youth challenges in South Africa expands into tool for service mapping and referrals
The richest mine of data on youth in South Africa, the Youth Explorer Portal – which gives statistics on different aspects of health, education, employment and living conditions across all nine provinces and across all wards within those – has now been expanded into a tool for service mapping and referrals.
29 Jun 2021
UCT part of UN endorsed international network to boost sustainable ocean cities
The Ocean Cities (OC-NET) Programme, in which the University of Cape Town’s Marine and Antarctic Research Centre for Innovation and Sustainability (MARIS) participates, has received endorsement as an official United Nations (UN) Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development programme under the first ‘Decade call for Action’. The UN Ocean Decade harnesses, stimulates and coordinates interdisciplinary research efforts at all levels, in order to generate and use knowledge for the transformational action needed to achieve a healthy, safe, and resilient ocean for sustainable development by 2030 and beyond.
25 Jun 2021
First-year social work student develops multilingual anti-mugging guide
A first-year University of Cape Town (UCT) social work student, Zukile Ntentema, has developed a set of anti-mugging guidelines to help Capetonians remain vigilant while out on the streets. This is part of his ongoing commitment to civic engagement and improving the lives of others.
24 Jun 2021
Smuts Hall renaming marks a new moment for UCT since #RhodesMustFall
The renaming process for Smuts Hall residence marks a new moment for the University of Cape Town (UCT) and indicates how far the institution has come – under the current executive leadership – since the time of #RhodesMustFall.
21 Jun 2021
UCT’s 24-year-old academic encourages the youth to find their passion
The first time Jeshika Luckrajh held a dissection scalpel she knew where her future lay. This Youth Month, the lecturer in clinical anatomy at the University of Cape Town’s (UCT) Department of Human Biology , talks about her steep trajectory into academia at the age of just 23 (she’s now 24) and the importance of mentors.
18 Jun 2021
Student’s start-up prioritises sneakers, soap and art
University of Cape Town (UCT) student Anele Siyotula is a maths whizz and creative genius, and he draws on these and other skills for his start-up, 1Stop Tekkie Wash. His love for colour means that he breathes life into students’ old sneakers with art; and because he’s a numbers man, no one crooks his books.
17 Jun 2021
Youth Day: ‘I remember police chasing learners’
When South Africans ponder the history of Youth Day, 16 June 1976, the names of Hastings Ndlovu and Hector Pieterson come to mind, along with a plethora of heart-wrenching but iconic images. The teenagers were killed when apartheid police opened fire during a protest in Soweto. But they weren’t the only casualties. Scores of other brave young boys and girls were gunned down as they protested the imposition of a new rule enforcing Afrikaans as a medium of instruction at schools.
15 Jun 2021
Inequalities in climate change: speaking youth to power
University of Cape Town (UCT) graduates Koaile Monaheng and Tyler Booth recently joined UCT researcher Britta Rennkamp and other faculty and students from across the globe – including United States, Italy, France, Germany, South Africa, Kenya, Ghana and Japan – to discuss the role of intergenerational justice and existing iniquities in climate change. The event forms part of a series of roundtables held by global university alliance U7+.
14 Jun 2021
Global recognition for UCT’s Department of Construction Economics and Management
The Department of Construction Economics and Management at the University of Cape Town (UCT) has received the International Real Estate Society’s (IRES) 2021 Corporate Leadership Award. The award recognises outstanding leadership at international level in support of real estate research and education. It also acknowledges the department’s support of the African Real Estate Society (AfRES).
10 Jun 2021
Pan-African study identifies genetic component to rheumatic heart disease risk in Black Africans
A study published in JAMA Cardiology is the largest of its kind to provide insights into the genetic determinants of rheumatic heart disease (RHD) in Africa. RHD is a sequela (effect/result) of rheumatic fever, characterised by permanent heart valve damage. Despite being completely preventable, RHD remains rampant in poor communities where there is widespread overcrowding and poor access to health care.
10 Jun 2021
UCT academic selected to participate in global body on artificial intelligence
Associate Professor Deshen Moodley from the University of Cape Town’s (UCT) Department of Computer Science is one of 19 international fellows who will participate in the University-Based Institutes for Advanced Study (UBIAS) network’s 4th Intercontinental Academia (ICA).
09 Jun 2021
UCT’s H3D secures significant partnerships to fast-track work in Africa
The University of Cape Town’s (UCT) Holistic Drug Discovery and Development Unit (H3D) recently entered into two important strategic partnerships. These collaborations will assist the unit with developing new tools to advance treatment outcomes for the African patient population, and enable capacity building in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to aid drug discovery in Africa.
08 Jun 2021
Groote Schuur Hospital performs South Africa’s first bowel enteroscopy
A team of academics at the University of Cape Town’s (UCT) Division of Medical Gastroenterology have performed South Africa’s first successful bowel enteroscopy (endoscopy of the small bowel). The cutting-edge procedure was carried out at Groote Schuur Hospital (GSH) and is set to transform the way clinicians access and examine the previously inaccessible small bowel – using a minimally invasive technique.
04 Jun 2021
National innovation award for UCT engineer’s urine project
The University of Cape Town’s (UCT) Associate Professor Dyllon Randall has won the South African Institution of Chemical Engineers (SAIChE) 2021 Innovation Award for a project on the development of a fertiliser-producing urinal and urine bio-brick process.
03 Jun 2021
Effecting change in STEM must start at school level
Dr Zina Ndabeni made history when she joined the University of Cape Town’s (UCT) Department of Physics in 2020. As the first black South African woman to take up an academic role in the department, Dr Ndabeni said there’s serious work to be done to nurture young black students in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
03 Jun 2021