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UCT RESEARCH REPORT 2012
Departmental statistics
Permanent and long term contract staff
Associate Professor
1
Emeritus Professor
1
Senior Lecturers (full-time)
2
Senior Lecturers (part-time, 5/8)
2
(part-time, sessional)
4
Lecturer (part-time, 5/8)
1
(sessional, DOE funds)
1
Research Staff
4
Administrative and Clerical Staff
4
Honorary Lecturers
3
TOTAL
23
Students
Doctoral
3
Master’s
9
Undergraduate
784
TOTAL
796
Research fields
Permanent staff
Associate Professor Nonhlanhla Khumalo
Professor Khumalo is NRF rated and runs the only academic
hair research clinic in the country (with Dr. Laduma
Ngwanya). Her research interests include the epidemiology
and treatment of hair and scalp disorders that uniquely
affect individuals with afro-textured hair. Her international
collaboration studies use various research tools - scanning
(and transmission) electron microscopy and amino acid
analysis of hair. Current studies are investigating the link
between folliculitis keloidalis nuchea and HIV transmission.
She is also developing a hair classification tool that will
be useful for elucidating the relationship between the
pathogenesis of alopecia and hair phynotype.
Dr Rannakoe Lehloenya
Dr Rannakoe Lehloenya leads a study of the clinical,
molecular and genetic aspects of severe cutaneous
adverse drug reactions (SCAR). Intrinsic to this will be
the development of a predictive model for ascribing
causality to ensure safe drug reintroduction especially
for antituberculosis treatment reactions. Several other
closely related clinical studies include a follow up of
patients to assess long term sequelae, evaluation of
placenta and newborn following SCAR in pregnancy and
the use of clobetasol to prevent nail sequelae of SCAR.
The division has become the only African member of the
international group, RegiSCAR, contributing cases to the
group database, essential as the cause of these reactions
in Africa is very different from Europe and Asia.
Department Of Medicine
Chronic Diseases Initiative In Africa
(Cdia)
Director: Professor N.S. Levitt
Divisional Profile
The Chronic Diseases Initiative in Africa (CDIA), funded
by the United Health Chronic Disease Initiative and the
National Heart Lung Blood Institute (NHLBI), was launched
in November 2009. It forms part of an 11 centre Global
Health Initiative focussing on non communicable disease
research in the developing world. CDIA comprises of
a network of researchers drawn from the University of
Cape Town, Stellenbosch University and the University of
the Western Cape, along with the South African Medical
Research Council, Harvard University and Shree Hindu
Mandal Hospital, Tanzania, in addition to representatives
from local and national Departments of Health. CDIA’s
mission is to serve as a collaborating initiative for the
development, evaluation and dissemination of methods
and programmes to prevent chronic non-communicative
diseases, and improve the quality of care for people with
these diseases and their risk factors.
Research
Currently funded projects:
Develop, evaluate and implement integrated chronic
disease management guidelines for primary care providers
Eden District Randomised, Controlled-Trial for Primary
Care of Chronic, Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs)
is being conducted to test the effectiveness of a novel
training approach based on a previously tested model
of syndromic screening and management of patients
with conditions such as chronic obstructive pulmonary
disease, asthma, or TB. A written guideline (101 pages) has
been prepared for the management of chronic diseases
by primary care nurses and doctors. The trial will test
whether the approach, previously shown to be effective for
respiratory diseases including tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS,
will remain effective when expanded to include the primary
care management of other major categories of chronic
diseases (hypertension, diabetes, depression).
To calibrate and validate a non-laboratory based screening
tool for cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk prediction in
South Africa
The predictive performance and risk discrimination of
the non-laboratory-based risk score to five commonly
used laboratory-based scores (Framingham CHD and