programme speakers the 11th african academy of … · prof charles rotimi, director, trans-nih...
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Programme speakersIn order of appearance
Key Speakers
Hon. Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane, SA Minister for Science & Technology
Prof Felix Dapare Dakora, The AAS President
Prof Vladmir Sucha, Director General, JRC EU
Dr Jacqui Williams, Newton Fund Lead, UKRI
Amb Marcus Cornaro EU Ambassador, South Africa
Mrs Élisabeth Barbier, Deputy Director General, National Research Institute for Sustainable Development
Prof Ram Ramaswamy, President of the Indian Academy of Sciences
Prof Isneri Talavera, Vice President, Cuban Academy of Sciences
Prof Isabella Quakyi, Professor of Immunology and Parasitology, University of Ghana
Dr Jacqueline Olang-Kado, Executive Director, The Network of African Science Academies
Prof Nobert Hounkonnou, Professor of Mathematics and Physics, University of Abomey-Calavi
GA Agenda Chairs TED Talks
Secretariat
Prof Barthelemy Nyasse, The AAS GC, Secretary GeneralProf Nelson Torto, The AAS Executive DirectorProf Amina Abubakar, The AAS GC Interim TreasurerMr Frederick Murunga, Chair of the Audit Risk Committee & Governing Council MemberMs Christine Kuto, The AAS Legal & Compliance Offi cer
Dr Isayvani Naicker, Director for Strategy and Partnerships
Prof Tom Kariuki, Director of Programmes, The African Academy of Sciences
Dr Alphonsus Neba (DELTAS Africa), Deputy Programmes Director- Science Support and Systems
Dr Jennifer Maroa, The AAS Programme Manager H3 Africa)
Dr Moses Alobo, The AAS Programme Manager Grand Challenges Africa
Dr Judy Omumbo, The AAS Postdoctoral Programme Manager
Ms Allen Mukhwana, The AAS Manager Research Management Programme
Ms Lillian Mutengu, Manager Community and Public Engagement
Dr Michael Kilpatrick, Senior Adviser, Good Financial Grant Practice
Ms Elizabeth Marincola, Senior Adviser, AAS Open Publishing
Ms Juliette Mutheu-Asego, Head of Communications & PR
Prof Desta Mebratu, Extraordinary Associate Professor, Centre for Complex Systems in Transition, Stellenbosch University
Prof Neil Coville, Emeritus Professor, University of the Witswatersrand
Prof George Fu Gao, Director-General, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention
Prof Jane Catherine Ngila, Deputy Director,
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Programme speakersIn order of appearanceFor all speakers biographies go to https://events.aasciences.ac.ke/eventDetail/5b5726d8ee5d5
TED Talks
Gala Dinner
Challenge sessions
Morendat Institute of Oil & Gas
Prof Mohamed-Slim Alouini, Professor of Electrical Engineering, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST)
Professor of Electrical Engineering, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology
Prof Nicola Mulder, Head of the Computational Biology Division, University of Cape Town
Prof Eleanor Fish, Professor, Department of Immunology, University of Toronto
Prof Francisca Nneka Okeke, Professor of Physics, University of Nigeria, Nsukka
Prof Jonah Ratsimbazafy, President, Madagascar Primates Group
Prof Alinah Kelo Segobye, Dean of Faculty, Human Sciences, Namibia University of Science and Technology
Dr Padonou Elie Antoine, Lecturer, School of Tropical Forestry, Benin’s National University of Agriculture
Prof Charles Rotimi, Director, Trans-NIH Center for Research on Genomics and Global Health
Prof El Hadji Ibrahima Diop, President, St Christopher IMD Medical School
Dr Olayinka Oridupa, Senior Lecturer, Veterinary Pharmacology, University of Ibada
Prof Paco Sereme, Research Director, National Agricultural Research Institute of Burkina Faso
Dr Nabila Bouatia-Naji, Research Director, INSERM, Paris,
Prof Mafongoya Paramu, South Africa Research Chair in Agronomy and Rural development, University of KwaZulu-Natal
Prof Kobus Eloff, Founder, Phytomedicine Programme, University of Pretoria
Prof Salim Abdool Karim, Director, Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA)
Prof Kevin Marsh, Senior Advisor, The African Academy of Sciences
Prof Quarraisha Abdool Karim, Immediate Past AAS Vice President for Southern Africa and Associate Scientifi c Director, Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa
Prof Salif Diop, Former Senior Staff Member, United Nations Environment Programme
Prof Alison Elliott, Director, Makerere University- UVRI Research Training Programme in Infection and Immunity
Dr Natisha Dukhi, Research Specialist, Human Sciences Research Council
Prof Cato Laurencin, University Professor, University of Connecticut
Prof John Mugabe, Professor of Science and Innovation Policy, University of Pretoria
Prof Isoun Turner, Former Minister of Science and Technology, Nigeria
Dr Wesley Doorsamy, Senior Lecturer, University of Johannesburg
Daan Du Toit, Deputy Director-General, DST
Prof Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, The AAS Fellow & Former President of Mauritius
Prof Moctar Toure, Founding and active Fellow of The AAS & Africa region Vice President, The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) council
Dr Boitumelo Kgarebe, The AAS Vice President, Southern Africa region
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Hon Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane is currently the Minister of Science and Technology and a member of the National Executive Council of the African National Congress. Before this portfolio, she served as a Minister in two portfolios, Energy and Communications, respectively.Mmamoloko started her career as a community developer in non-governmental organizations and subsequently joined the banking sector as a Skills development specialist. When she joined the public sector, she started at the National Health Laboratory Services as a skills development manager and then she was recruited to become a director in the office of the President of South Africa. In 2009, she became a Member of Parliament of South Africa and assumed several roles including serving as the parliamentary advisor to the then Deputy President of South Africa, Mr Kgalema Motlanthe, then later as a Chairperson of the Portfolio committee on Telecommunications and Postal services.She holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Vista University, a postgraduate diploma in project management from Damelin college and a Masters’ degree in Management in Public and Development Management from the University of the Witwatersrand.
Hon Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane, Minister, Science and Technology, South Africa
Key Speakers
Prof Felix Dapare Dakora, President, The AAS
Prof Felix Dapare Dakora is the President of the African Academy of Sciences. He has over 33 years’ work experience in Africa and North America where he has been a researcher and has supervised and graduated master’s and doctoral students. His research spans the fixation of biological nitrogen (N2) in legumes and has promised great results. He is currently a Plant and Soil Biotechnology Professor at the Tshwane University of Technology in Pretoria and a National Research Foundation grant holder, Dakora is a recipient of the UNESCO-Equatorial Guinea International Prize for Research in the Life Sciences; the African Union Kwame Nkrumah Scientific Award; and is a Fellow of the Academy of Science of South Africa. He has served on many advisory/scientific committees of major international conferences, including being President of the African Association for Biological Nitrogen Fixation.
In order of apperance
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Prof Vladimír Šucha, Director-General, Joint Research Centre
Prof Vladamir Šucha is the Director-General of the Joint Research Centre, the European Commission’s science and knowledge service.He was Deputy Director-General of the JRC between 2012 and 2013. Prior to that, he spent 6 years in the position of director for culture and media in the Directorate-General for Education and Culture of the European Commission.Before joining the European Commission, he held various positions in the area of European and international affairs.Between 2005 and 2006, he was director of the Slovak Research and Development Agency, national body responsible for funding research. He was principal advisor for European affairs to the minister of education of the Slovak Republic (2004-2005).He worked at the Slovak Representation to the EU in Brussels as research, education and culture counselor (2000-2004). In parallel, he has followed a long-term academic and research career, being a full professor in Slovakia and visiting professor/scientist at different academic institutions in many countries. He published more than 100 scientific papers in peer reviewed journals.
Dr Jacqui Williams is currently the Head of Partnerships and Programmes in UK Research and Innovation’s (UKRI) International Development Team. Her team works to provide strategic leadership and coordinate activities across the UKRI Councils. Jacqui works across the Global Challenges Research Fund and the Newton Fund. Jacqui is responsible for the team’s regional working approach, and leads on activities within the Africa region. Jacqui joined the team from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council where she had worked as leader of their Energy Programme. Previously Jacqui was senior manager within the energy team, managing the research and training portfolio in many areas such as energy storage and carbon capture and storage, and worked on many international joint calls and activities. Previous research themes that Jacqui has managed include construction engineering and manufacturing. Prior to joining the Councils she studied agricultural engineering and researched the impacts of wind erosion controls.
Dr Jacqui Williams, Newton Fund Lead, UKRI
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Marcus Cornaro, EU Ambassador to the Republic of South Africa
Amb Marcus Cornaro arrived in South Africa in October 2015 as Head of Delegation of the European Union’s diplomatic mission to South Africa. Previously, he was Deputy Director General in the European Commission’s Directorate for Development Cooperation (DEVCO), a post that he held from 2012. Dr Cornaro oversaw all EU-funded development activities for partner countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. He held the position of the European Commission’s cochair of the EU-South Africa Joint Cooperation Council.Cornaro joined the European Commission in 2000, where he served in the Asia Directorate, covering in particular EU support to Afghanistan. He subsequently was posted as the EU’s Ambassador to Vietnam from 2003 to 2007. In 2007, he was appointed Director for the European Neighbourhood in the European Commission, responsible for EU funding for Eastern Europe, Middle East and North Africa.
Mrs Élisabeth Barbier, Deputy Director General, National Research Institute for Sustainable Development
Mrs Élisabeth Barbier is a French diplomat after being Ambassador of France in Kenya (2006- 2010), South Africa (2013-2016) and special envoy for Libya (2016-2017). She is since last 1st November Deputy Director General of the French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development (IRD). In 1976, she joined the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and served successively in Jerusalem, Pretoria, New-Delhi, Rabat, Johannesburg and Vienna (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe). In 2003, she was appointed Deputy Director General, then Director General, in charge of Africa at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. As an Ambassador to Kenya and then South Africa, she was involved in the promotion of science, research and innovation. She has worked closely with representatives of higher education and French research to develop cooperation with the academic communities of these countries and the entire African continent.
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Prof Ram Ramaswamy is currently Visiting Professor in the Department of Chemistry at IIT Delhi. He recently retired from the Jawaharlal Nehru University where he was Professor in the Schools of Physical Sciences, and Computational and Integrative Sciences. His doctoral studies were carried out at Princeton University. His post-doctoral work included a year and a half at Caltech and two years at the TIFR, Mumbai as Visiting Fellow. He has held visiting positions at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton, the Institute for Molecular Sciences, Okazaki, the University of Tokyo, Japan, and the Santa Fe Institute. From mid-2011 to early 2015, he served as the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Hyderabad. Ramaswamy is an elected Fellow of the Indian National Science Academy (INSA) as well as The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS). He is currently the President of the Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore
Prof Ram Ramaswamy, President of the Indian Academy of Sciences
Prof Isneri Talavera Bustamante holds a Bachelor Degree in Chemistry (1980), a PhD in Chemical Sciences from University of Havana and from the Polytechnical University José Antonio Hechavarria Havana Cuba. She was Director and Senior Researcher at the Advance Technology Applied Center until June 2018 and currently works permanently as Vice President of the Cuban Academy of Sciences. Talavera has academic and research expertise in paper chemistry in the line of paper degradation processes, and more recently in the line of patter recognition and data mining in analytical chemistry (chemometrics). She has taught conference cycles in Cuban and foreign academic institutions and has supervised research studies and doctoral theses.
Prof Isneri Talavera Bustamante, Vice President, Cuban Academy of Sciences
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Prof Isabella Akyinbah Quakyi, Professor of Immunology and Parasitology, University of Ghana
Isabella Akyinbah Quakyi, a Professor of Immunology and Parasitology, holds a PhD in Immunoparasitology from LSHTM, University of London, England, 1980. The Foundation Dean of the School of Public Health, CHS, University of Ghana (UG), Fellow of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences, Fellow of the African Academy of Sciences, 2014 Laureate of the prestigious African Union Kwame Nkrumah Award for Women in Science, and former member of the Ghana Health Service Council. Her research, teaching and extension works in UG, National Institutes of Health (NIH), and Georgetown University, USA, focused on malaria immunity and vaccine development. She has built substantial local and international research capacity, academic scholarship, leadership skills and the needed capacity for Public Health. She has initiated and participated in Key Global Health activities and is recipient of numerous awards and serves on national and international boards and committees.
Ms Jackie Olang Kado, Executive Director, Network of African Science Academies
Ms Jackie Olang Kado is the Executive Director of the Network of African Science Academies (NASAC). NASAC, whose secretariat is based in Nairobi, Kenya, is a consortium of twenty-four science academies in Africa, with membership drawn from all spheres of science. Jackie is a Masters of Arts graduate in Project Planning and Management (MA-PPM) from the University of Nairobi. She also holds a Bachelor of Education degree (BEd.) in Mathematics and Commerce, from the same university. Her specialisation is project management for policy in science and she has over sixteen years’ experience working with scientists in Africa. She is an astute proponent for home-grown solutions that will enable Africa to realise its potential. Besides her role in NASAC, she also provides input to a number of African initiatives and also serves on the several national and international Committees.
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Nobert Hounkonnou, Professor of Mathematics and Physics, University of Abomey-Calavi
Hounkonnou is a full Professor of Mathematics and Physics at the University of Abomey-Calavi, Republic of Benin. His works deal with noncommutative and nonlinear mathematics including differential equations, operator theory, coherent states, quantization techniques, orthogonal polynomials, special functions, graph theory, non-associative algebras, nonlinear systems, noncommutative field theories and geometric methods in Physics.He is co-author and reviewer of books, referee and associate editor for renowned journals in mathematics, mathematical physics and theoretical physics. He has published more than 150 main refereed papers in outstanding ISI-ranked journals and international conference proceedings in the fields of mathematics, mathematical physics and theoretical physics. He is the current President of the Benin National Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters.
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GA Agenda Chairs
Prof Barthelemy Nyasse, Secretary General
Barthelemy Nyasse is full University Professor of Organic Chemistry with special interests in Medicinal Chemistry and Natural Products Chemistry into which, he has published many articles in peer reviewed journals. He is the Head of the Promotion of Academic Research at the Ministry of Higher Education of Cameroon and Head of the Laboratory of Medicinal Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Yaounde where is working on selective inhibitors of the glycolytic pathways in the Trypanosomatideae which provoke Sleeping sickness and Chagas Disease. In this context, Nyasse has developed new selective inhibitors with known mechanisms of actions either by synthesis or from extraction from medicinal plants of Cameroon. He serves as a Scientific Adviser to International Foundation for Science (IFS), Scientific Adviser to WHO/TDR & ANDI (African Network for Drug & Diagnostics Innovation), Focal point of GIBEX (Global Institute for BioExploration), Lead trainer of Trainers of AWARD (African Women in Agricultural Research and Development), Consultant to WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization) and OAPI ( Organisation Africaine de la Propriete Intellectuelle). Professor is also member of the Adviser committee of PRD College (Poverty related Diseases) and Global Health Systems; Member of American Chemical Society; Member of European peptide Societ, etc.
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Prof Nelson Torto is the Executive Director of The African Academy of Sciences (The AAS). Under his leadership, the goals of The AAS are to promote partnerships, mobilise the African scientific community, lead science advocacy efforts and ensure research findings are incorporated into policymaking so that science remains at the forefront of the African agenda and is adequately supported to transform people’s lives. At the core of his agenda is empathy; the stakeholder has to be part of finding the solution to their challenges. Prior to joining The AAS, Prof Torto was the founding Chief Executive Officer of the Botswana Institute for Technology Research and Innovation. He has had an illustrious academic and research career and has graduated 19 PhD students during his tenure at the University of Botswana and Rhodes University. He is a Fellow of The African Academy of Sciences, Inaugural Fellow of the Botswana Academy of Sciences and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (UK). He is a recipient of the Young Separation Science Award by the American Chemical Society.
Prof Nelson Torto, Executive Director, The AAS
Prof Amina Abubakar, Acting Treasurer
Amina Abubakar is an Associate Professor of Psychology and Public Health at Pwani University, Kenya and a Research Fellow at the Kenya Medical Research Institute/Wellcome Trust Research Programme. She is also an honorary fellow at the Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, UK. She is a Kenyan psychologist, who co-leads the Neuroscience research group at Kenya Medical Research Institute-Wellcome Trust Research Programme, based in Kilifi, Kenya. This is a dynamic multidisciplinary research group interested in child and adolescent well-being. In collaboration with colleagues, she has developed measures of early child development which are currently in use in several African countries. In 2016, she won the Royal Society Pfizer Award in recognition of her pioneering psychological research in East Africa, and for the impact her work has had in the field of neurodevelopmental assessment. Her substantive work has focused on the adverse impacts of a range of health conditions on young people’s neurocognition and mental health. In 2016, she was awarded the MRC/DfID, African Research Leaders award to investigate the associations between executive functioning and mental health, medical adherence, risk taking behaviour and scholastic outcomes among adolescents in the context of HIV.
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Mr Frederick Murunga is a business development professional with over 20 years of experience spanning Finance, Marketing and General Management. He has steered Captiva Africa LLC from a fledging start-up to a leading business advisory firm in the sectors of water, sanitation and clean energy serving clients across East and West Africa regions. He was formerly the Managing Director for Africa Online Ltd where he led the company, in amongst other things, raising funds and setting up the first consumer wireless broadband infrastructure in East Africa. He had previously served as Finance Director at Menanet Communications in Egypt where he assisted in growing the company from a dotcom hopeful to the second largest and most profitable ISP in Egypt. He also served in the Business Advisory Services division of PricewaterhouseCoopers for 9 years before joining Unga Group Ltd as the Group Internal Auditor. Murunga has a B.Com from the University of Nairobi, an MBA in Finance from Manchester Business School, University of Manchester in the UK and is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA).
Mr Frederick Murunga, Chair Audit and Risk Committee, The AAS
Ms Christine Kuto, Legal and Compliance Officer, The AAS
Ms Christine Kuto is responsible for leading and directing the management of all legal issues involving The AAS and has overall responsibility for ensuring that the Academy’s legal risks and compliance requirements are assessed and mitigated appropriately. Prior to joining The AAS, Kuto was General Counsel at Daystar University. She has over seven years’ experience in the Company Secretarial role and her passion is mainly in corporate governance specifically risk, policies and processes. Other previous experience has been at the World Food Programme (WFP), Across- South Sudan, Tearfund, St. Paul’s University and FOCUS. She holds a Degree in Science (BSc) and a Degree in Law (LLB), is a Certified Secretary and is a member of the Institute of Certified Public Secretaries(ICPSK).
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Secretariat
Dr Isayvani Naicker, Director of Strategy and Partnerships, The AAS
Dr Isayvani Naicker’s current role at The AAS is to nurture strate-gic partnerships, increase and diversify the number of partners and strengthen engagement with stakeholders in line with The AAS Strategic Plan 2018-2022. Prior to joining The AAS she worked as a Chief director of International Resources at the Department of Science and Technology in South Africa. She also previously worked as a Research Scientist at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research in South Africa focusing on environment and sustain-able development. She was involved in various policy-making processes in the science, environment and mining fields in post-apartheid South Africa. She was also a Research Associate at the Centre for Science and Policy (CSaP) at the University of Cambridge and a Visiting Research Fellow at the School of Governance at the University of Witwatersrand. She is a member of various interna-tional research, science and policy networks. She holds a PhD in Geography (Cambridge) focused on Science Policy, and Master of Science Degrees in Geology (UCT) and Philosophy of Social Sciences (LSE).
Dr Tom Kariuki, Director of Programmes, The AAS
Dr Tom Kariuki is the Director of Programmes at The African Academy of Sciences (The AAS) where he leads the Alliance for Accelerating Excellence in Science in Africa (AESA Platform), which was launched in 2015 by the AAS and the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) Agency (now known as the African Union Development Agency). An internationally recognised immunologist, Kariuki leads the Academy›s programmatic activities to accelerate world-class research, foster innovation, and promote scientific leadership on the continent. He oversees the funding of research, development and commercialisation of novel, high-impact STI solutions for the continent, and is cultivating strategic partnerships with academic institutions, governments and industry globally to transform Africa’s future through science-led, knowledge-based economies. Prior to his appointment at The AAS, Kariuki served as Director of the Institute of Primate Research/National Museums of Kenya, a biomedical and conservation biology facility. He has published widely on vaccines and diagnostics development for infectious diseases including schistosomiasis (Bilharzia), malaria and co-infections, and on policy related to biomedical research and funding. He is recipient of several international grants and awards.
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Dr Alphonsus Neba, Deputy Programmes Director- Science Support and Systems, The AAS
A native of Cameroon, Dr Alphonsus Neba is the Deputy Programmes Director- Science Support and Systems, a post which he was appointed to in December 2018. He still retains principal re-sponsibility for the Wellcome Trust-supported Developing Excellence in Leadership, Training, and Science (DELTAS Africa), which he has led as Programme Manager from its inception in 2015 and continues to provide guidance and supervision to the DELTAS Africa team. Before joining the DELTAS Africa programme, Neba was Assistant Director for Research Commercialisation and Technology Transfer, and Acting Assistant Director for Research Funding and Grants Management at the University of Botswana. He holds a PhD in Biotechnology and an MSc in Environmental Biotechnology from South Africa’s Rhodes University; a Master’s degree in Information Sciences from the University of Ibadan (Nigeria), and a BSc Hons degree in Microbiology from the University of Lagos. He further holds several certificates including Converting Technology to Wealth from the University of Texas at Austin in the US, Bioentrepreneurship from the University of Pretoria in South Africa and Developing STI Policy in Developing Countries from the World Bank Institute. Neba has more than 12 years’ experience in research management, research ethics, grants and contracts administration, research com-mercialisation, technology transfer and intellectual property man-agement, health research and health policy development.
Dr Jennnifer Mabuka, Programme Manager, Human Heredity and Health (H3Africa), The AAS
Dr Jenniffer Mabuka is the Programmme Manager for the Human Hereditary and Health in Africa (H3Africa) programme at The AAS. She is responsible for the development and management of the H3Africa portfolio of activities and investments. Prior to joining The AAS, Mabuka spent 16 years doing HIV-1 basic science research. Her research broadly focused on understanding host innate and immune factors that modulate HIV-1 transmission and pathogenesis. She investigated host immune responses in mother-to-child transmission of HIV-1 with a focus on breast milk transmission and explored antibody evolution in natural HIV-1 infection with the goal of informing antibody-based vaccine design. Mabuka has published four publications as first author and has contributed to 24 others, each with over 300 citations. She is currently a Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Washington in Seattle and a 2018 Aspen New Voices Fellow.
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Dr Moses Alobo, Programme Manager, Grand Challenges Africa, The AAS
Dr Moses Alobo has over 15 years’ experience managing research grants both from the recipients and funders’ side.His last posting was as a key interface between the African research centres and GSK’s Africa NCD Open Lab. He has worked for GSK, Hoffman La Roche and Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative. He studied medicine at the University of Nairobi (Kenya) and later Public Health at the University of Birmingham (UK). He has been awarded the Archbishop Desmond Tutu African Leadership fellowship in 2014, the EU Contact Point Network for Young African Scientists Fellowship in 2007 and the British Chevening Scholarship in 2005.
Dr Judy Omumbo, Programme Manager, Affiliates and Postdoctoral Fellowships, The AAS
Dr Judy Omumbo is the Programme Manager for The AAS Affiliates and postdoctoral programmes. She has over 20 years of experience in epidemiology focusing on research to support malaria control programs, where she focused on developing effective partnerships between researchers and vector-borne disease control programs; emphasising the use of national data, research, and health information systems for monitoring and evaluation (M&E). She has played a major role in building the capacity of national control programs through curriculum development; providing training of trainers and supporting programs to develop tools to collate, analyse, and display their own data. Judy has worked in the capacity of a consultant and published research in climate, vector-borne diseases, and health, as the head of a policy and practice unit of an international malaria research programme, and as director of Public Health M&E for the MEASURE Evaluation PIMA Project. She holds a PhD in Epidemiology and a Master’s in Public Health.
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Ms Allen Kukhwana, Research Management Manager, The AAS
Ms Allen Mukhwana joined The AAS as Research Systems Manager in November 2017. she is working with a broad range of partners including researchers, funders, research management professionals and institutions to develop a programme to professionalise research and innovation management in Africa and provide leadership for the transformation of research systems and management.Prior to joining The AAS, Mukhwana was Centre Manager for the Makerere University/UVRI Infection and Immunity Research Training Programme (MUII-PLUS). She joined MUII-PLUS from the Infectious Diseases Institute, College of Health Sciences, Makerere University, where she was Senior Research Administrator and Head of Capacity Building for more than six years. There, she established the research support functions and structures and articulated the governance framework. She is passionate about management of research ecosystems in Africa, from governance and compliance, portfolio tracking, through to dissemination and reporting.
Ms Lillian Mutengu Naigaga, Public and Community Engagement Manager, The AAS
Ms Lillian Mutengu Naigaga is responsible for strategic planning and implementation of an engagement support programme for grant holders applying for funding through AESA managed programmes. She has over 20 years of community and public engagement and communication experience in biomedical research and sexual reproductive health. Her focus has been in HIV/AIDS, Ebola and Adolescent health, establishing programmes and leading teams to identify and execute innovative strategies that support better understanding of communities and cohorts, and testing of candidate vaccines in clinical trials. Prior to joining AAS, Naigaga was Senior Programme Manager of IAVI’s Research Preparedness and Communications portfolio for the Africa Region, leading policy advocacy initiatives at the national, regional and international level Naigaga has worked with the US Military HIV Research Program (USMHRP) in Uganda and with the Straight Talk Foundation. She has a Diploma in Journalism, a Bachelors’ in Social Sciences, and is currently finalising her MPH degree programme.
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Dr Michael Kilpatrick, Senior Advisor, Good Financial Grant Practice, The AAS
Dr Michael Kilpatrick qualified in London with a PhD in neuro-physiology, and then entered the pharmaceutical industry as a research scientist. This was followed by a career as a manage-ment consultant in the life sciences sector. Following two years as the Operations Director for the Medical Research Council in the Gambia, he relocated to London to be the MRC Operations Director for their units in UK and Africa. Kilpatrick was seconded to the African Academy of Sciences in 2015 to be the Senior Advisor to the Good Financial Grant Practice Programme (GFGP).
Ms Elizabeth Marincola, Senior Advisor, Science Communications and Advocacy, The AAS
Ms Elizabeth Marincola is Senior Advisor for Science Communications and Advocacy at the African Academy of Sciences in Nairobi, Kenya. Marincola is an international leader in science advocacy, open science, research funding, publishing, communications, education and public engagement. She was CEO of the large open access publisher PLOS, after serving on the PLOS board for a decade. At the AAS, she founded AAS Open Research, an innovative, immediate, transparent, peer reviewed publishing platform. Marincola was President of the Society for Science & the Public, Publisher of Science News magazine, and was Executive Director of the American Society for Cell Biology and the Coalition for Life Sciences for 14 years. She served on the first oversight board for PubMed Central, was a member of the founding board of eLife and served as its Chair, has served on numerous US and EU advisory commissions on open science, and is currently on the board of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Center for Humanitarian Health. She received her bachelors and MBA degrees from Stanford.
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Ms Juliette Mutheu-Asego, Head of Communications and PR, The AAS
Ms Juliette Mutheu-Asego leads the development of an engaging and compelling AAS brand in Africa and the implementation of a pan-African communication and marketing strategy that leverages the unique strengths of The AAS to achieve Africa’s ambitious targets for research and innovation growth. Previously, she worked as a communication, media and advocacy specialist at PATH providing strategic communication leadership and technical assistance to the Kenyan Ministry of Health in conceptualising, designing, implementing and monitoring key activities on communication and advocacy. She worked at the Management Sciences for Health (MSH) where she led deliberate communication initiatives and training to strengthen internal and external communications capacity and at the African Institute for Development Policy (AFIDEP) as the Science Communication and Policy specialist involved in designing and implementing a communication and policy dialogue programme.She holds a Master’s in Science Communication and an Honors and Bachelors in Biomedical Science. She is a creative at heart with several years of experience in science communication and development, brand building, media engagement, capacity building, and mentorship.
16 | #TheAASGeneral Assemly
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Ted Talks
Prof Desta Mebratu, Extraordinary Associate Professor, Centre for Complex Systems in Transition, Stellenbosch University
Prof Desta Mebratu has more than 30 years of experience working for industries, government agencies, universities and international organizations. A chemical engineer by background, he has a PhD of engineering in Industrial Environmental Economics from Lund University, Sweden and an MBA in International Business from the American University of London. He worked for different United Nations Agencies including the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) where he worked for more than thirteen years. He served, among others, as Head of Business and Industry Unit and Deputy Regional Director for Africa of UN Environment. He has published more than 40 articles in peer-reviewed journals and Handbooks, including co-Editing a Handbook on Sustainable Development Policy and Administration published by Taylors and Francis in 2008. He is currently an Extraordinary Associate Professor at Centre for Complex Systems in Transition, Stellenbosch University and CEO of the African Transformative Leapfrogging Advisory Services (ATLAS). He is also Fellow of the African Academy of Sciences (AAS), Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study (STIAS) in South Africa and Pufendorf Institute for Advanced Studies in Sweden.
Neil Coville,Emeritus Professor, University of the Witswatersrand
Prof Neil Coville obtained his B.Sc. (Hons) and M.Sc. degrees at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), Johannesburg, before proceeding to McGill University, Montreal in 1968 where he obtained his Ph.D degree (1973). After post-doctoral work at Harvard University he returned to Wits in 1976. He worked his way through the ranks in the School of Chemistry, from lecturer to Chair of Inorganic Chemistry before becoming an Emeritus Professor. He is still a member of two DST-NRF Centres of Excellence (Catalysis; Strong Materials) and maintains an active research group. His research work is focussed on carbon chemistry – synthesis and applications - and this has led to many studies on the shaping and doping of carbons. The applications include the use of the carbons as catalysts supports (e.g. in Fischer-Tropsch catalysis) and for use in sensors and solar cells.
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Prof George Fu Gao, Director-General, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention
Prof George Fu Gao is the Director-General of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Vice President of National Natural Science Foundation (NSFC) of China and Professor of Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. His research interests include enveloped viruses and molecular immunology, mainly focusing on the enveloped virus entry and release, esp. interspecies transmission of (host jump) influenza virus and coronaviruses. His research has recently expanded on public health policy and global health strategy. He has published more than 500 refereed papers (Including papers in Cell, Nature, Science, The Lancet, NEJM, PNAS etc.). Gao has been elected as a member/ fellow of several academies, including Chinese Academy of Sciences, The Third World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) and The African Academy of Sciences (AAS). Gao is a recipient of several international and national awards, including TWAS Medical Prize (2012), Nikkei Asian Prize (2014), Japanese Foreign Minister’s Commencement (2015) and the Gamaleya Medal (Russia 2018).
Prof Jane Catherine Ngila, Deputy Director, Morendat Institute of Oil & Gas
Prof Jane Catherine Ngila obtained her PhD in 1996 from the University of New South Wales (Australia). She worked as a Tutor in Chemistry Department, Kenyatta University from 1989; Appointed as Lecturer in Chemistry Department, University of Botswana 1998; Senior Lecturer, School of Chemistry, University of KwaZulu Natal 2006; full Professor, Applied Chemistry, University of Johannesburg in 2011; Appointed Deputy Director of Morendat Institute of Oil & Gas, Kenya Pipeline Company April 2017. Her research interests include development of water quality monitoring techniques for inorganic and organic pollutants, and nanotechnology for water treatment. She has about 400 publications comprising of 180 journal articles, 15 books/ chapters, 33 Keynote/Invited Lectures, 17 conference proceedings and 155 abstracts. She is the Winner of Kwame Nkrumah Regional Awards for Women in 2016; Winner of South Africa Distinguished Women in Science (WISA) Award 2016. She is a Member of Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf) from 2016.
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Prof Mohamed-Slim Alouini, Professor of Electrical Engineering, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology
Prof Mohamed-Slim Alouini was born in Tunis, Tunisia. He received the Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Pasadena, CA, USA, in 1998. He served as a faculty member in the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA, then in the Texas A&M University at Qatar, Education City, Doha, Qatar before joining King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, Makkah Province, Saudi Arabia as a Professor of Electrical Engineering in 2009.
Prof Nicola Mulder, Head of the Computational Biology Division, University of Cape Town
Prof Mulder heads the Computational Biology Division at the University of Cape Town, and leads H3ABioNet, a Pan African Bioinformatics Network of 28 institutions in 16 African countries. H3ABioNet is developing bioinformatics capacity to enable genomic data analysis on the continent. Prior to her position at UCT, she worked for 8.5 years at the European Bioinformatics Institute in Cambridge, as a Team Leader for bioinformatics resources. At UCT her research focuses on genetic determinants of susceptibility to disease, African genome variation, microbiomes, genomics and infectious diseases from the host and pathogen perspectives. Her group provides bioinformatics services for local researchers, through which they develop visualization and analysis tools for high-throughput biology. Her team has also developed new and improved algorithms for the analysis of African genetic data and for downstream analysis and interpretation of GWAS data. Prof Mulder is actively involved in training and education, including bioinformatics curriculum development.
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Prof Eleanor Fish, Senior Scientist, Toronto General Research Institute, University Health Network and Adjunct Scientist, Women’s College Research Institute, Toronto
Eleanor Fish is a Professor in the Department of Immunology & Associate Chair, International Initiatives & Collaborations, at the University of Toronto. She is a Senior Scientist in the Toronto General Research Institute, University Health Network and Adjunct Scientist in the Women’s College Research Institute, Toronto. Fish is the Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Women’s Health and Immunobiology, a McLaughlin Scholar and was elected as a Fellow to the American Academy of Microbiologists. Fish is the recipient of the 2015 Canadian Society of Immunology Cinader Award for outstanding research contributions and the depth and breadth of contributions to the community through training, leadership, collaboration and international activities. In 2010 Professor Fish was awarded the prestigious Vivian & Seymour Milstein Award, recognizing her exceptional contributions to interferon and cytokine research that have led to advancements in human health. In 2012 Professor Fish received the Canadian Society for Immunology Investigator Award.
Prof Francisca Nneka Okeke, Professor of Physics, University of Nigeria, Nsukka
Prof Francisca Nneka Okeke has B.Sc Physics, (21), M.Ed, M.Sc in solid earth Geophysics Ph.D ionospheric geophysics and PGDE. Her postdoctoral research was carried out in University of Tokyo, Japan. She visited and collaborated with; University of Nathal, Durban, SA, University of Tokyo, Japan, CPTEC Brazil, USA, etc. She published over (100) articles in reputable journals and many books. She has made significant and outstanding contributions in her area. She is a Laureate of L’Oreal-UNESCO Award for WIS for physical Sciences, 2013. She is instrumental to the academic growth of her Department, and development of Physics in Nigeria. She produced 35 M.Sc’s and 20 Ph.D’s and supervised many. She was the first female Head of Physics Department, first female Dean, Faculty of Physical Sciences. She is Fellow; The World Academy of Science, The African Academy of Science, Nigerian Academy of Science, Japanese Society for Promotion of Science, and Nigerian Institute of Physics. She is member; Governing Council of ANSTI, For her contributions in space science, President, Goodluck Jonathan appointed her a member of National Space Council of Nigeria. She has proved that Physics is not only male domain but female domain.
20 | #TheAASGeneral Assemly
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Prof Jonah Ratsimbazafy, President, Madagascar Primates Group
Prof Jonah Ratsimbazafy is a native of Madagascar, the island of lemurs, chameleons and many other different animals and plants that you can only find here on this island. He is the President of the Madagascar Primates Group (GERP), an organization that advocates for the protection of Malagasy lemur species. He is also a professor at the University of Antananarivo. He holds a PhD in Anthropology (focus in Primatology) from Stony Brook University in New York. Currently, he is the Vice Co-Chair of the Primate Specialist Group –Madagascar section of the IUCN/SCC. He also has been an active member of different national and international conservation organizations and he is also a current member of the editorial board of the International Journal of Primatology as well as the Madagascar Conservation and Development journal. Pr. Jonah Ratsimbazafy is the pioneer of Lemur conservation in Madagascar.
Prof Alinah Kelo Segobye, Dean of Faculty, Human Sciences, Namibia University of Science and Technology
Prof Alina Kelo Segobye is the Dean of Faculty - Human Sciences at the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST). She holds an honorary professorship at the Thabo Mbeki African Leadership Institute (TMALI), University of South Africa (UNISA) and is a Research Scholar at the African Futures Institute (AFI) and the Institute of Economic Research on Innovation (IERI) - Tshwane University of Technology in Pretoria, South Africa. Segobye was a visiting Scholar at the Rotary Peace Centre, Peace Studies (University of Bradford) in 2016; served as Deputy Executive Director at the Human Sciences Research Council of South Africa (2012-2014). She taught at the University of Botswana for over twenty years where she was Associate Professor of Archaeology. She has extensive teaching, research and consultancy experience in African studies, HIV/AIDS; gender and development. She has authored and co-authored essays and book chapters on African heritage, culture and development.
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Dr Elie Padonou Antoine, Lecturer, School of Tropical Forestry, Benin’s National University of Agriculture
Dr Elie Padonou Antoine holds a PhD in Agronomic Sciences, Option Management of Natural Resources at Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, University of Abomey-Calavi (Benin). He is Lecturer and researcher at School of Tropical Forestry, National University of Agriculture (Benin). His skills, expertise and research interest are land degradation and restoration, resilience of forest systems, applied ecology, agroforestry, agronomy, ecological restoration, ecological statistics, forest conservation, forest ecology, forest management, landscape ecology, Non-Timber Forest Products assessment, plant biodiversity and conservation, plant ecology, sacred forest management assessment. He is Nominate in The African Academy of Sciences (AAS) Affiliate for 2017-2021 as young affiliate and Nominated as expert for IPBES Target 3: land degradation and restoration.
Prof Charles Rotimi, Director, Trans-NIH Center for Research on Genomics and Global Health
Prof Charles Rotimi, a genetic epidemiologist, is the Director of the Trans-NIH Center for Research on Genomics and Global Health, USA. Rotimi conducts innovative research to understanding genetic and lifestyle determinants of diseases including hypertension and diabetes in Africans. His research provides insights into human history and the complex debate of the existence of “human-racial-groups”. Rotimi is proud of his efforts to bring diversity to genomics to ensure that “Tomorrow’s Medicine and Biotechnologies” will serve all. He fulfilled a lifetime achievement with the launch of the Human Heredity and Health in Africa Initiative (H3Africa.org) with over 170-million US-dollars in funding from NIH and Wellcome-Trust. Rotimi was recognized as an “African Innovator” by Quartz Africa and elected to the USA National Academy of Medicine and The African Academy of Sciences. An internationally recognized scholar, Rotimi’s research accomplishments have been profiled in New-England-Journal of Medicine, Science, Nature, Lancet, Newsweek, NY Times and BBC.
22 | #TheAASGeneral Assemly
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Prof El Hadji Ibrahima Diop, President, St Christopher IMD Medical School
Born December 28th 1950 in Mbour Senegal MD 1979. Residency at University of Montréal Canada in Orthopedics and Plastic Surgery: 1981-1983. Published in 1984 the early results of the Total Hip Replacements he introduced in Sénégal and reported in 1986 the first experience of Total Knee Replacement in West Africa. 1985, Diploma on Rehabilitation for the Physically Handicapped persons.( Indonesia) 1986 Fellow of the West African College of Surgeons, WACS 1987 Fulbright Fellow at the USA Rancho Los Amigos Medical Center in Downey Los Angeles, USC University René Descartes Paris V Diploma of Legal Medicine: 1989 and Diploma of Health Economy, Demography, Statistics, and Social Security: 1992. Professor in Surgery – Orthopedic, Surgery and Traumatology in 1990 he carried out teaching positions at the Dakar University and lecturer-instructor in advanced and basic AO course, of the Swiss Association for the Study of Internal Fixation in Davos Switzerland. 1997 International Health Resources Management from the Naval postgraduate School Monterey, California (USA). Head orthopedic department in the Dakar Orthopedic Center: 1989, Medical Director: 1996, Director: 2002. More than 120 scientific achievements on musculoskeletal system disorders, 40 years Scientific societies: World Orthopedic Concern 1984, Medical Society for Francophone African Countries 1984, West African College of Surgeons 1987, International Society of Orthopedics and Traumatology 1988, International College of Surgeons 1988, French Society for Orthopedics and Traumatology 1989, International Orthopedic Research Society 1991, West African Research Association 1992, American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons 1997, Cofounder Senegalese Academy of Sciences 1999, Past President African Society of Traumatology and Orthopedics 2000, External Editorial Board Member for French Revues and French Publications in Orthopedics and Trauma 2004. Honored in 1988 as Member of the Council and the Board of Trustees of The Leopold Sedar Senghor Foundation; 1993 Knight in The Order of The Academic Palms of France; 1996 Knight in The Order of The Lion of Senegal; 2002 Officer in The Order of The Lion of Senegal. Since 2000 President founder of private university St Christopher IMD Medical School, President founder of IBAMED Foundation to help funding Education, Research and Care, in Medical Sciences.
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Dr Olayinka Ayotunde Oridupa, Senior Lecturer, Veterinary Pharmacology, University of Ibadan
Dr Olayinka Ayotunde Oridupa was born on 20 October, 1978 and is married with children. She graduated from the University of Ibadan with the degree of Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (March 2004). She obtained M.Sc. in Veterinary Pharmacology (July 2007) and Ph.D in Veterinary Pharmacology and Toxicology (June, 2013) from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. Oridupa won the Olatunde Agbato award for the best student in Small Animal Medicine (2002/2003 Session) and is a Registered Veterinarian with the Veterinary Council of Nigeria. She began her career as a Veterinary Officer at Fol-Hope Nigeria (March – August 2004) and Imo State Veterinary Clinic, Egbu Road, Imo State, Nigeria (September 2004 – August 2005). She was employed as a Lecturer in Veterinary Pharmacology, Department of Veterinary Physiology, Biochemistry and Pharmacology, university of Ibadan (September 2007) and also began her residency training in Clinical Pharmacology at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital, University of Ibadan. She was a Visiting Researcher at the School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, United Kingdom (November 2012 – October 2014). She was promoted to her current position of Senior Lecturer in Veterinary Pharmacology in the Department of Veterinary Physiology, Biochemistry and Pharmacology, University of Ibadan (October 2014). She is a member of several professional and academic bodies including Nigerian Veterinary Medical Association, International Society for Ethnopharmacology, Biochemical Society, American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics. At her home institution, she is the Co-ordinator of the undergraduate and postgraduate studies in the Department of Veterinary Pharmacology and Toxicology. She has published two books, a book chapter and over fifty journal articles in reputable journals.
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Prof Paco Sereme, Research Director, National Agricultural Research Institute of Burkina Faso
Prof Paco Sereme is a Research Director in plant pathology at the National Agricultural Research Institute of Burkina Faso. Holding a PhD in Plant pathology from the University of Rennes I, France (1985) and a “Doctorat d’Etat Es-Sciences” in Plant Pathology from the University de Cocody, Côte d’Ivoire (1999), he has produced more than 50 articles in Peer Review Journals. His leadership as research manager [Director of INERA, 1994-2002; Executive Director of CORAF/WECARD, 2003-2012] resulted in his involvement in several international committees devoted to the transformation of agriculture in WCA. Current Chair of ICRISAT Governing Board, he is a Fellow of The African Academy of Sciences and a Funding member of the National Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters of Burkina Faso. Prof SEREME received honors from several countries and institutions.
Dr Nabila Bouatia-Naji, Research Director, INSERM, Paris
Dr Nabila Bouatia-Naji holds a PhD on human genetics and is a Research Director at INSERM, Paris, France. Her research is dedicated to study the genetic causes of cardiometabolic diseases with >56 in highly ranked journals publications. She leads an INSERM team that uses cutting edge genetic and functional genomic technology and multidisciplinary approaches in wet and dry lab experimentation to address the genetics of cardiovascular disease in women. She studies fibromuscular dysplasia that causes hypertension and predisposes to stroke and spontaneous coronary artery dissection, an emerging form of acute myocardial infarction predominantly afflicting women. Dr Bouatia-Naji is a well-recognized geneticist who is committed to encourage women to embrace scientific research careers, especially at the leadership level. She obtained several prestigious and highly competitive funding and awards, including a European Research Council Starting Grant in 2016 and the Young Investigator Award at the International Conference of Human Genetics, Kyoto, 2016.
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Prof Paramu L. Mafongoya, South Africa Research Chair in Agronomy and Rural development, University of KwaZulu-Natal
Prof Parau L. Mafongoya holds a PhD in Agroforestry from University of Florida (USA), an MSc in Applied Plant Sciences as well as an MSc Agricultural Development from Wye College, University of London (UK) and a BSc (Hons) Agriculture from the University of Zimbabwe. He has over 30 years’ experience working with various international organizations and universities in the areas of agricultural research, development, education, and integrated natural resources management. He has published 263 papers (117 refereed journal articles, 41 refereed book chapters and 2 books). His total publication record stand at 263. Currently he a Professor and South Africa Research Chair in Agronomy and Rural development at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. He has supervised and co- supervised up to date 8 Post Doctorial fellows, 35 PhD students, 36 MSc students and 15 undergraduates. He has worked with Universities in the North and South in supervising these students. He has also done up to date 30 consultancies on integrated natural resource management for UN organizations such FAO, UNEP, UNDP, ILO and international NGO`s such Oxfam, WWF, HIVOS and national governments in SADC. Currently he is a member of several international professional societies. He is a fellow of the Zimbabwe Academy of Sciences. He has participated in several collaborative research involving CGIARs, Advanced Research Institutes, National Agricultural Research and Extension Systems, International Foundations and NGOs. His experience is multidisciplinary, transdisciplinary, multi-institutional and multi-cultural.
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Prof Kobus Eloff, Founder, Phytomedicine Programme, University of Pretoria
Prof Kobus Eloff is the founder of the interdisciplinary Phytomedicine Programme, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria concentrating on using plants selected by focused screening and ethnoveterinary knowledge, to treat infections/infestations by microorganisms and parasites on production animals. Eloff was Executive Director, National Botanic Gardens and Research Director National Botanical Institute, Professor Universities of Free State, Cape Town and Pretoria. Supervised 48 MSc and 49 PhD students that have completed their studies. Editor SA Journal of Botany, SA Journal for Science and Technology, International Journal for Phytomedicine, BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine. Invited to review manuscripts for 309 different scientific journals. Did not accept invitation to join Editorial Board of 74 different scientific journals. More than 220 (> 91 invited/plenary/keynote) international presentations > 308 peer evaluated scientific publications > 10800 citations, h factor 50 with 179 publications cited at least 10 times. Managed project leading to African Herbal Pharmacopoeia. Several patents registered, and products licensed to Industrial Companies based on group’s research. B-category (internationally acclaimed researcher) evaluation by NRF. Leadership role several national and international professional societies. Elected member of Italian Academy of Sciences Bologna Institute established in 1690 with Nobel prize winners like Marie Curie and Albert Einstein as former members. Elected Fellow of The African Academy of Sciences. Awarded International Horticultural Society Bronze medal, SA Association of Botanists Silver and Gold medal and honorary Life Membership, SA Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns Havenga medal, Gold medal and MT Steyn Prize, National Science and Technology Forum Eskom Prize for capacity development and Academy for Science of South Africa (ASSAf) Gold medal. Profile included in book of ASSAf entitled “Legends of South African Science” with 52 other scientists from natural and social sciences
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Challenge Sessions
Prof Salim Abdool Karim, Director, Centre for the AIDS Program of Research
Prof Sakim Abdool Karim, MBChB, PhD, DSc (honoris causa) is a South African clinical infectious diseases epidemiologist who is widely recognised for his ground-breaking scientific contributions in HIV prevention and treatment. He is Director of the Centre for the AIDS Program of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA). He is also Professor of Clinical Epidemiology at the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University, Adjunct Professor of Medicine at Weill Medical College of Cornell University and Associate Member of The Ragon Institute of Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard University. His contributions to microbicides for HIV prevention spans two decades and culminated in the CAPRISA 004 tenofovir gel trial which provided proof-of-concept that antiretroviral drugs can prevent sexually transmitted HIV infection and herpes simplex virus type 2 in women.
Prof Kevin Marsh is Senior Advisor to the AAS and a Professor of Tropical Medicine at the University of Oxford. He qualified in medicine at the University of Liverpool in 1978 and did research at the Medical Research Council Unit in the Gambia, working on the immunology of malaria. In 1989, he established with colleagues a series of research projects on the clinical epidemiology and immunology of malaria in Kilifi on the Kenyan coast. These have developed into the international KEMRI Wellcome Trust Research Programme, with 800 staff across East Africa. Marsh was director until August 2014. He has an interest in developing and strengthening research capacity and scientific leadership in Africa, and is Chair of the WHO Malaria Policy Advisory Committee. He is director of the Africa Oxford Initiative and is a member of many international advisory committees on malaria and global health research and a Fellow of the African Academy of Sciences and the UK Academy of Medical Sciences. Marsh was awarded the Prince Mahidol prize for medicine in 2010 and the Al Sumait prize for health and African development in 2016
Prof Kevin Marsh, Senior Advisor
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Prof Quarraisha Abdool Karim, Immediate Past AAS Vice President for Southern Africa and Associate Scientific Director, Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa
Prof Quarraisha Abdool Karim is a Fellow of The AAS and imme-diate past Vice President for southern Abdool Karim is a South African epidemiologist and NRF A-rated scientist who has made pioneering contributions over the past 28 years to preventing HIV prevention in adolescent girls and young women including the landmark CAPRISA 004 trial that demonstrated for the first time that anti-retrovirals can prevent HIV infection (lauded by Science as one of the Top 10 scientific breakthroughs in 2010). Through the Columbia University -Southern African Fogarty AIDS International Training and Research Programme (CU-SA Fogarty AITRP) she played a central role in training over 600 scientists enabling a strong science base to be established to enhance responses to HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis through discovery and implementation science research. She is a strong advocate for the rights of people living with, and affected, by HIV and for women to pursue careers in science and technology. She is co-Founder and Associate Scientific Director of the world-renowned AIDS Research Centre, CAPRISA; Professor in Clinical Epidemiology, Columbia University; Pro-Vice Chancellor for African Health, University of KwaZulu-Natal and UNAIDS Special Ambassador for Adolescents and HIV. She is the recipi-ent of over 30 prestigious awards including: the inaugural AAS Olusegun Obasanjo Prize; TWAS Lenovo Prize; L’Oreal-UNESCO Laureate for Africa and the Middle East and South Africa’s highest honour, the Order of Mapungubwe, from the President of South Africa.
Prof Salif Diop, Water Expert
Prof Salif Diop, a former Senior Staff Member in UNEP, Scientific Assessment Branch - Division of Early Warning and Assessment (DEWA), is a Professor of University.Diop is a water expert with broad experience in various aspects of scientific assessment of freshwater, coastal and marine resources and coastal oceanogra-phy as well as in areas related to the management and sustain-able development of the environment. Diop holds a 3rd Cycle Doctorate at the University Louis Pasteur / Strasbourg / France he defended in 1978 and a Doctorat D’Etat that he defended in the Same University in 1986.He spent a sabbatical year - between 1986 and 1987 - in his capacity as Senior Fulbright Scholar at RSMAS (Rosenstiel School for Marine and Atmospheric Sciences) University of Miami / USA - Division of Biological Sciences and Living Resources. Diop is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and Techniques of Senegal (ANSTS), The African Academy of Sciences (AAS) and the World Academy of Sciences for the Advancement of Sciences in the Developing Countries (TWAS).
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Prof Alison Elliott, Director, Makerere University and UVRI (MUII-plus)
Prof Alison Elliott specialises in tropical medicine at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. She serves as head of the Co-infection Studies Research Programme at the MRC/Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI) Unit and as Director of the Makerere University – UVRI Centre of Excellence for Infection and Immunity Research and Training. Elliott became interested in parasitology and research in Africa as an undergraduate while studying in The Gambia. After completing medical training, she joined the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and, during the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, undertook studies on the interaction between tuberculosis and HIV infection in Zambia. She served an infectious diseases fellowship in Denver, Colorado, learning management in clinical-immuno-epidemiology. Since 1997, Elliott has been based at the Uganda Virus Research Institute. She focuses on interactions between co-infections, on the effects of helminth infection on immune responses to vaccines, on vaccine responses and on susceptibility to infectious and non-communicable diseases and on research capacity-building in Africa.
Prof Natisha Dukhi, Research Specialist, Human Sciences Research Council
Prof Natisha Dukhi is a Research Specialist at South Africa’s Human Sciences Research Council in the Department of Population Health, Health Systems and Innovation. She has over 12 years of experience in academia, lecturing Anatomy, Physiology, Pharmacology and Pathophysiology at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban University of Technology and Rhodes University. She is actively involved in research relating to Maternal, Adolescent and Child Health in South Africa and globally. She is also currently a World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology: Scientific and Technical Committee & Editorial Review Board Member, a member of the Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World, and International Union for Health Promotion and Education (IUHPE). When she is not busy with research she is actively involved in community engagement, is an enthusiastic foodie who loves shopping and travelling.
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Prof Cato T. Laurencin, University Professor, The University of Connecticut
Prof Cato T. Laurencin, M.D., Ph.D., is a University Professor at the University of Connecticut (the 8th to be designated in the institution’s over 135 year history) in the United States. He is the Albert and Wilda Van Dusen Distinguished Endowed Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery. He is Professor of Chemical, and Biomolecular Engineering, Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, and Professor of Biomedical Engineering at UConn. Laurencin is the Founder and Director of both the Institute for Regenerative Engineering and the Raymond and Beverly Sackler Endowed Center for Biomedical, Biological, Physical and Engineering Sciences at the University of Connecticut. He has served as the Chief Executive Officer of the Connecticut Institute for Clinical and Translational Science, UConn’s cross university translational science institute. Laurencin has been named to America’s Top Doctors and America’s Top Surgeons, and is a Fellow of the American Surgical Association, a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, and a Fellow of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. He is the recipient of the Nicolas Andry Award, the highest honor of the Association of Bone and Joint Surgeons.
Prof John Mugabe, Professor of Science and Innovation Policy, University of Pretoria
John Mugabe is Professor at the Graduate School of Technology Management and Research Associate at the Institute for Technological Innovation (ITI), University of Pretoria, South Africa. He is also a science and innovation policy consultant for the World Bank Institute and an associate of the Next Einstein Initiative (NEI) of the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) in Cape Town. Between 2002 and 2008 he was Science and Technology Advisor to the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD). He was Executive Director of the African Centre for Technology Studies (ACTS), Nairobi between 1995 and 2002. Prior to that, he was a Programme Officer of the International Diffusion of Biotechnology Progrmme of the International Federation of Institutes of Advanced Study (IFIAS), Maastricht in the Netherlands. Mugabe was a member of the Kenya National Council for Science and Technology (NCST), and member of the boards of the African Conservation Centre (ACC) and member of Board of Trustees of Sustainable Agriculture Centre for Research and Development in Africa (SACRED).
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Prof Isoun Turner, Former Minister of Science and Technology, Nigeria
Hon. Minister of Science and Technology of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (October 2000-May 2007). During his tenure, he initiated policies that promoted science and technology for development. He guided Space Policies and the development and launching of NigerSat I (land observation), and NIGCOMSAT 1 and 1R (advanced communication) satellites. He directed the development of S&T policies and activities in sectors including: ICT, Energy (including Renewable Energy), Biodiversity Management and Biotechnology, and Climate Change. While Minister and also Treasurer of AAS (2003), he played a key role in the award of the $5,000,000 grant to AAS by the Federal Government of the Republic of Nigeria; this grant helped to revitalize the operations of AAS and contributed to the construction of its permanent secretariat. Following his tenure, Prof. Isoun was awarded (2007) the National Honour of the Commander of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (CFR).
Dr Wesley Doorsamy, Senior Lecturer, University of Johannesburg
Wesley Doorsamy received the BSc in Electrical Engineering, MSc and PhD in Engineering, and PGDip in Education from the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa, where he also held a Postdoctoral Fellowship. He is currently a Senior Lecturer at the University of Johannesburg and is an active member of both the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and South African Institute of Electrical Engineers (SAIEE), and an affiliate member of the African Academy of Sciences (AAS). His research interests are in condition monitoring and diagnostics, modelling, analytics and optimisation in different application areas including, inter alia, power and energy, mining and manufacturing sectors.
32 | #TheAASGeneral Assemly
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Prof Daan du Toit, Deputy Director-General, International Cooperation and Resources
Prof Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, Biodiversity Scientist
Prof Daan Du Toit started his career in the South African Department of Foreign Affairs. Since 2002 he has worked for the Department of Science and Technology – from 2006 as the Department’s representative to the European Union, and from 2014 as the Deputy Director-General: International Cooperation and Resources. Over the years, his efforts have seen South Africa’s international cooperation in science, technology and innovation (STI) flourish. He played a central role in the establishment and management of the European-South African Science and Technology Advancement Programme, among others, and has represented his country in multilateral forums like the OECD’s Global Science Forum, the Group on Earth Observations, and the Square Kilometre Array Organisation’s Strategy and Business Development Committee. He is on the Joint Expert Group of the Africa-EU Science, Information Society and Space Partnership, and the Bureau of the Africa-EU High-Level Policy Dialogue on STI. He also oversees South Africa’s STI relations within BRICS.
Prof Ameenah Gurib-Fakim is a prolific scientist who previously worked as Managing Director of CIDP Research & Innovation (formerly Cephyr, Centre for Phytotherapy Research). She was a Professor with a personal chair in Organic Chemistry at the University of Mauritius (2001) and where she served successively as Dean of the Faculty of Science and Pro–Vice Chancellor (2004–2010). Gurib-Fakim also worked at the Mauritius Research Council as Manager for Research (1995–1997) and served as the Chairperson the International Council for Scientific Union – Regional Office for Africa (2011–2014).Elected in 2012, Gurib Fakim has been active in The African Academy of Sciences, first as an East Africa Representative in the Governing council and later as a champion of The AAS. She is also the first African women to win the L’Oreal UNESCO Prize for Women in Science.
Gala Dinner
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Dr Boitumelo Kgarebe, Vice President, Southern Africa
Dr Boitumelo Kgarebe is a Fellow of the African Academy of Sciences (The AAS), for which she is the Vice-President for Southern Africa, and serves on its Governing Council. She is an international expert in scientific programme and project management, with vast experience in networking of higher education institutions and institutional relationship management focusing mainly on capacity building.An analytical chemist by training she also holds MBA from the University of Botswana. She has more than 30 years of university teaching and research experience at both the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. She has worked at the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in The Hague. The OPCW, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2013, and Dr Kgarebe was given due recognition for her contribution to the outstanding work of the Organisation. She has served as a High-Level Expert for the African Union. Currently she is the Head of the Analytical Services at the National Institute for Occupational Health in Johannesburg. Dr Kgarebe also supervises research students at the Division of Forensic Medicine and Pathology (Wits), and teaches at the School of Chemistry, (Wits) Johannesburg, South Africa.
Prof Moctar Toure, Founding Fellow, The African Academy of Sciences
Prof Moctar Toure is a founding and active member of both the Senegalese National Academy of Sciences and The African Academy of Sciences. He is also member of The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) for the advancement of science in developing countries since 1985 and currently serves as the Vice President in the TWAS Council, represent-ing the Africa Region. His field of interest and experience cover: natural sciences, agronomy, soil chemistry, environment, desertification and land management, science policy and management. He earned his PhD in soil sciences in 1973, at the university of Rennes (France). For more than 32 years he served as field scientist and science management leader, respectively in the Senegalese agricultural research system (1974 to 1988) and at the Work Bank and the Global Environment Facility headquarters in Washington, DC (1989-2006).