The College at a Glance

Navigation

At A Glance

RESEARCH:
The College of Health Sciences comprising the School of Clinical Medicine, Health Sciences, Laboratory Medicine & Medical Sciences and Nursing & Public Health has led research in chronic diseases, early childhood intervention, health sciences education and training, women’s health and traditional medicine, just to name a few. The R40 million Doris Duke Medical Research Institute aimed at investigating diseases prevalent in Africa, and the Africa Centre for Health and Population Studies located in Mtubatuba, outside Durban, fall within the College.

The College is proud to host the new $60 million KwaZulu-Natal Research Institute for Tuberculosis and HIV (K-RITH) funded by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and focusing on the worldwide effort to control the devastating co-epidemic of tuberculosis and HIV, as well as the Traditional Medicine Laboratory co-funded by the Department of Science and technology and the Ibn Sina Institute of Tibb (South Africa) aimed at fostering collaboration between scientists, traditional healers and medical practitioners to study the medicinal properties, safety and effectiveness of several African plants.

A further 25 research groups contribute towards knowledge production at the College. These are:

Human Performance Laboratory

CAPRISA – Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa

The Adult AIDS Clinical Trials Group (AACTG)

Breastfeeding and HIV/AIDS

Drug Resistance

Molecular Pharmacology Research Unit

Pregnancy and HIV/AIDS

The Enhancing Care Initiative (ECI)

Nutrition and HIV/AIDS

Paediatric HIV/AIDS

HIV Pathogenesis Programme

HIV and spinal co-infection

African Traditional Medicine

Rehabilitation

Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STIs)

Biomedical Resource Unit (BRU)

Rural Health

Health Outcomes Research Unit

Optics and Imaging Centre

Drug Delivery Systems and Nanotechnology

The Columbia University-Southern African Fogarty AIDS Training and Research Programme

Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology

The Doris Duke Medical Research Institute (DDMRI)

The Africa Centre for Health and Population Studies

KwaZulu-Natal Research Institute for Tuberculosis and HIV (K-RITH)
Urology

COMMUNITY WORK:
Essential health care services which have been in short supply in underprivileged communities became a reality due to programmes introduced by the College. The Happy Valley Clinic serving the underprivileged communities of Ngcolosi, Nyuswa and Molweni provides basic healthcare, community based rehabilitation and health education programmes. Students from all Schools within the College offer their services to the community clinics in the area. These are the Eye Clinic, Audiology Clinic, the Speech-Language Pathology Clinic, the occupational therapy clinic for adults with various disabilities and children with auditory, speech and learning problems as well as the Biokinetics Clinic for individuals requiring orthopaedic and chronic disease rehabilitation.

Medical Students engage in an active curriculum which provides them with the opportunity to transfer medical knowledge and skills from the lecture theatres to the rural communities. The broad aim of many of the disciplines involved in community work such as the Centre for Rural Health is to facilitate the realization of optimum health and quality of life for underserved communities. The Department of Occupational and Environmental Health provides occupational and environmental health development within the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

Students from the College engage in several joint School modules such as Community Studies, Research and Clinical Sciences. Outreach initiatives within the College extend to schools, orphanages, and homes for the disabled and aged. The Schoolof Health Sciences students also offer their services on the Phelophepa Health Train which passes through deep rural areas offering a full range of health care services.

Some of the communities and assistance provided within KwaZulu-Natal range from:
1. The Happy Valley Clinic, & communities of Nyuswa, Ngcolosi and Molweni in the Valley of a Thousand Hills
2. Phelophepa Health Train
3. St Wendolin’s Health Centre
4. The Red Cross Flying Dentist and Medical Initiative
5. WHO’s Collaborating Centre For Nursing and Midwifery
6. The Joanna Briggs Institute Collaborating Centre for Evidence-Based Nursing
7. RP Moodley School for the Disabled
8. Several Sporting events
9. Primary Health care Facilities
10. Mitchell Park Zoo
11. The Natal Sharks Board
12. The International Centre For Eye-Care Education
13. The African Vision Institute
14. Rotary International
15. KwaZulu-Natal Health and Education Services
16. Phoenix Assessment and Therapy Centre and Rehabilitation Unit
17. World Vision South Africa
18. eThekwini Council
19. Private practitioners
20. KZN Specialists Network

INTERNATIONAL LINKS:

1. Drake University	Pharmaceutical Sciences
2. University of Toronto	Biology Research
3. University of Malawi	Paediatrics and Child Health
4. University of Columbia	Paediatrics and Child Health
5. Operation Smile (USA)	Speech Language Pathology, Anaesthetics
6. Karolinska Medical Institute (Sweden)	Optometry
7. Universite' Paris-Sud, France	Optometry
8. University of New South Wales, School of Optometry & Vision Science, Sydney	Optometry
9. University of Melborne (Australia)	Optometry
10. University of Manchester (UK)	Physiology
11. University of Zimbabwe	Physiology
12. Harvard Medical School (USA)	Paediatrics and Child Health, Virology, Infectious Diseases, Microbiology
13. University of Oxford (UK)	Paediatrics and Child health, Anaesthetics
14. World Bank Institute (USA)	Family and Public Health
15. London School of Hygiene (UK)	Family and Public Health
16. Columbia University NY (USA)	Family and Public Health
17. All India Institute of Medical Services (USA)	Family and Public Health
18. Swedish Institute for Infectious Disease Control (Sweden)	Family and Public Health
19. John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (USA)	Family and Public Health
20. University Hospital of Norway (Norway)	Family and Public Health
21. Wake Forest University (USA)	Behavioural Medicine
22. University of Bergen (Norway)	Behavioural Medicine
23. University of Oslo (Norway)	Behavioural Medicine
24. Bergen Clinics (Norway)	Behavioural Medicine
25. University of California (USA)	Behavioural Medicine, Nursing
26. University of Quebec and Montreal (Canada)	Behavioural Medicine
27. World Health Organization (Switzerland)	Behavioural Medicine
28. International Association of Suicide Prevention (France	Behavioural Medicine
29. Karolinska Institute (Sweden)	Behavioural Medicine
30. Horschule Bremen (Germany)	Nursing
31. Kigali Health Institute (Rwanda)	Nursing
32. John Hopkins University (USA)	Nursing
33. Jyvaskyla Polytechnic (Finland)	Nursing
34. City University (UK)	Nursing
35. WHO Collaboration centres (USA)	Nursing
36. Joanna Briggs CC (USA)	Nursing
37. SANTED Multilingual project (Norway)	Nursing
38. University of Botswana (Africa)	Nursing
39. Massachusetts General Hospital (USA)	Nursing, Medicine
40. University of Ibaban (Nigeria)	Pharmaceutical Sciences
41. Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife (Nigeria)	Pharmaceutical Sciences, Optics and Imaging
42. University of Strathclyde, Glasgow (Scotland)	Pharmaceutical Sciences
43. International Continence Society (UK)	Urology
44. Australian New Zealand College of Anaesthetists ANZCA	Anaesthetics
45. University of Bologna (Italy)	Trauma and Emergency
46. University of Gothenberg (Sweden)	Transplant Surgery
47. Dept of Surgery, Catharina Hospital, Eindhoven (Holland)	Endovascular Surgery
48. University of Edinburgh (Scotland)	Colorectal Surgery
49. University of Pennsylvania (USA)	Pathophysiology of HIV and Arteriopathy
50. Makerere University (Uganda)	Orthopedic Surgery & Audiology and Speech Language Pathology
51. East African University in Barraton (Kenya)	Nursing
52. Kigali Health Institute (Rwanda)	Nursing
53. Lumbumbashi Institute (DRC)	Nursing
54. Moi University (Kenya)	Ohio
55. Muhimbili University (Tanzania)	Nursing, Occupational and Environmental Health
56. University of Botswana	Nursing
57. University of Zimbabwe	Nursing, Occupational and Environmental Health
58. Institute Superieur des Techniques Medicales de Lubumbabshi (DRC)	Nursing
59. Abdou Moumouni University in Niamey (Niger)	Nursing
60. Eduardo Mondlane University (Mozambique)	Health Sciences, Occupational and Environmental Health
61. National Autism Centre (USA)	Speech language Therapy, Occupational Therapy and Audiology
62. Child Development Centre of Yale University (USA)	Speech Language Therapy, Occupational Therapy & Audiology
63. University of Michigan (USA)	Occupational and Environmental Health
64. University of Utrecht (Netherlands)	Occupational and Environmental Health
65. Boston University (USA)	Occupational and Environmental Health
66. Erasmus University (Rotterdam)	Occupational and Environmental Health
67. University of Florida (USA)	Occupational and Environmental Health
68. National Institute of Public Health (Sweden)	Occupational and Environmental Health
69. National Institute of Environmental Health sciences (USA)	Occupational and Environmental Health
70. University of Zambia	Occupational and Environmental Health
71. Tanzanian Occupational Health Services	Occupational and Environmental Health
72. Fogarty International Center (USA)	Occupational and Environmental Health
73. Kings College (London)	Infectious Diseases
74. Monash University (Australia)	Infectious Diseases
75. University of Cambridge (UK)	Optics and Imaging
76. University of Leige (Belgium)	Optics and Imaging
77. National Cancer Institute-Frederick (USA)	Optics and Imaging
78. Albert Einstein College of Medicine (USA)	Microbiology
79. Yale University	Microbiology
80. University of Pittsburg	Microbiology
81. East African College Surgeons (Africa)	Orthopaedics
82. International Bone and Joint Decade Centre (Sweden)	Physiotherapy
83. Vrije Universiteit (Amsterdam)	Geriatrics
84. An najah university, Palestine	Optometry
85. East Carolina University (USA)	Sport Science
86. Pudue University (USA)	Pharmaceutical Sciences