As an extension of its many interventions to strengthen the country’s health systems and its response to the disease burden and pandemics such as COVID-19, the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) has introduced four new Extramural Research Units (ERUs).
- To commemorate this year’s Women’s Day, the SAMRC hosted the United States Secretary of State, Antony J. Blinken for a Women in Science event at the Pretoria Office.
Eminent scientist and director of the SAMRC /Wits Vaccine and Infectious Diseases Analytics Research Unit (VIDA), Prof Shabir Madhi, is the winner of this year’s NSTF-South32 Lifetime Award. The award recognises an outstanding achievement by an individual to science, engineering and technology (SET) and innovation in South Africa over a period of 15 years or more.
- Naeemah Abrahams is the director of the women’s health research team at the South African Medical Research Council, a unit that she helped to set up in the late 1980s.
- The Springboks honoured leading Sisonke COVID-19 trial principal investigators Professor Glenda Gray and Professor Linda-Gail Bekker for their commitment to fighting the pandemic and assisting South African Sport through the height of the crisis by including them in the traditional pre-match team photo in Cape Town on Friday.