The South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) hosted its Intramural and Extramural Research Unit Symposium on the 22nd February 2024 at the Sun Square City Bowl, in Cape Town.
The in-person meeting was opened by the SAMRC Vice-President Prof Liesl Zühlke who welcomed the participants saying she was delighted to host the very first event of this nature and to have all our esteemed Unit Directors and Deputy Directors as well as esteemed researchers in the same room.
There was also a talk by the incoming SAMRC President and CEO, Prof Ntobeko Ntusi, who said that he is excited to be joining the organisation and that he is looking forward to working and leading alongside all of its staff. Prof Ntusi mentioned that he had long admired the SAMRC, stating it is an organisation displaying good governance and represents a good example of what a public institution should be, and expressed his hope that in the coming years that it will continue to grow from strength to strength. “The SAMRC as a research council is resilient, responsible and responsive, highly impactful in its work that has been carried out over the last half-century. Part of my work going forward will be to sustain all those elements”, added Prof Ntusi.
He wished the participants a wonderful day and had several wishes for the meeting outcomes which included: (1 ) for participants to see the symposium as a celebration of the richness and diversity of science in the country (2) to forge closer links with each other (3) build bridges, collaboration and co-creation of impactful science, (4) the diverse background represents an opportunity for promotion of transdisciplinary research across the SAMRC to push boundaries and knowledge generation (5) looking towards the future in terms of climate and planetary health and artificial intelligence (AI) and digital health, and lastly (6) to plant a seed for new frontiers and to increase the scope and develop pathways to impact and better translate the social determinants of health into policy and practice.
The symposium theme was “Building Bridges, Breaking Barriers: Mapping the Collective Future of Medical Research” and was aimed at fostering collaboration opportunities as well as overcoming challenges as a collective among the respective SAMRC research units.
Each of the Unit Directors/Deputy Directors was afforded an opportunity to give a short presentation on the research being done within their respective units, mentioning their accomplishments and highlights. This was insightful and raised many talking points in terms of how units can come together and tackle common problems in a streamlined manner, such as data, resources, equipment, and infrastructure sharing as well as strategies to deal with emerging issues affecting the country such as the rise in mental health disorders, pandemic preparedness and others.
There were also invited speakers who spoke to the theme of breaking barriers, with the content of these presentations being well received with discussion on topics such as best practices in knowledge translation, carbon footprint estimation and the environmental impacts of scientific research activities as well as AI’s revolutionary influence on medical research, looking at ‘AI in practice – First do not harm.’
Prof Zühlke closed the meeting and with her final remarks thanked Prof Glenda Gray for her leadership over the past decade, her team for making the event possible and all the participants and said the investment and excitement from the researchers was awe-inspiring, mentioning the far-reaching initiatives and outstanding science showcased that have already had a tremendous impact. “There are some wonderful ideas that have come out of this meeting and I am excited and looking forward to what this will bring in the future” concluded Prof Zühlke.
