January 29th, 2020
The new head of Western Cape Health appears to hold a different view on the NHI Bill than that of his political masters in the Democratic Alliance provincial government, writes MedicalBrief.
In the week that Western Cape Health MEC Nomafrench...
January 22nd, 2020
Associate Professor Lionel Green-Thompson has been appointed as the new dean of the faculty of health sciences at the University of Cape Town.
Green-Thompson joins from the Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University in Gauteng, where he is...
January 15th, 2020
A single sentence during a TV talk show catapulted Italian virologist Roberto Burioni to instant media celebrity status and made him the scourge of anti-vaxxers and other pseudoscience.
In May 2016, Roberto Burioni, a virologist at Vita-Salute...
January 15th, 2020
Africa’s premier research fellowship has been awarded to Professor Val Mizrahi, director of the Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine at the University of Cape Town (UCT). The award recognises Mizrahi as a pre-eminent scholar who...
January 8th, 2020
When for the first time an astronaut in space had a deep vein thrombosis (DVT), the US space agency called in an outside specialist to establish a method of treatment for DVT in zero gravity.
Blood clot expert Dr Stephan Moll, professor of...
December 11th, 2019
A medical student who achieved distinctions in every theory exam over six years was awarded Stellenbosch University’s top student honour.
Jennifer Kate van Heerden, the recipient of this year's coveted Chancellor's Medal, passed every...
November 27th, 2019
Lieutenant-General Zola Dabula has been appointed as the new surgeon-general of the SA Military Health Service, reports eNCA. Dabula has three decades of experience in military health and served as a physician to former president Nelson...
November 27th, 2019
When French doctor Christian Chenay saw his first patients in 1951, penicillin was state of the art.
Reuters Health reports that now 98 years old, he is still working and opens his surgery in the Paris suburbs two mornings a week for patients,...
October 30th, 2019
Professor Ian Shanks, the scientist who invented pioneering technology to test blood sugar levels, has been awarded £2m in compensation by the UK's highest court.
The Telegraph report says Shanks, 71, developed a new system for measuring the...
October 9th, 2019
South African director/producer Odette Schwegler has produced a film which documents stories of people living with fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP), one the rarest conditions in the world.
The film, Tin Soldier, premiered this week...
October 9th, 2019
Eight innovators from seven African countries have been announced as the inaugural awardees of the Grand Challenges (GC) Africa drug discovery scheme, each receiving up to $100,000 for a period of two years to expand their institutions’ drug...
September 11th, 2019
Seven years ago, rural Madwaleni Hospital in former Transkei was going through hard times, with only one doctor available. Today the hospital has greatly improved and two of its staff – Sinovuyo Dimanda and Dr Andrew Miller – have just...
August 21st, 2019
Ugandan Winifred “Winnie” Byanyima is the new executive director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, after the previous incumbent left accused of serious mismanagement.
Winifred “Winnie” Byanyima was on 14 August...
August 21st, 2019
South African hand surgeon Professor Ulrich Mennen was honoured with the prestigious Pioneer of Hand Surgery award at the 14th Triennial Congress of the International Federation of Societies for Surgery of the Hand (IFSSH) held in Berlin,...
July 31st, 2019
The Board of Healthcare Funders (BHF) has presented a Titanium Award to Dr Brian Ruff for his outstanding contribution to healthcare. The award recognises and honours professionals and organisations that are driving positive change in South...
July 17th, 2019
South African Aids researcher and scientist, Professor Salim Abdool Karim, has been inducted as a fellow of the prestigious Royal Society, reports The Times. The London-based Royal Society was established in 1660 by royal charter and has...