Human Physiology Associate Professor, Andile Khathi, and Dr Nontobeko Mvubu, a Medical Microbiology senior lecturer and researcher, are UKZN’s chosen two of 34 academics from South Africa’s 26 universities to be shortlisted from a pool of 103 applicants to join the Department of Higher Education and Training’s (DHET) esteemed Future Professors Programme (FFP): Phase 2 Cohort 3.
‘Congratulations on your well-deserved success and best wishes for an excellent experience as a participant in the programme,’ said DHET Deputy Director, Dr Nkosinathi Sishi, who confirmed that all applications were reviewed through a rigorous selection process by the FPP Phase 2 National Advisory Board. ‘I trust you will take full advantage of the opportunity that has been afforded to you and I look forward to the contribution you will make as a leading academic in Higher Education in South Africa and beyond.’
Managed by the University of Johannesburg on behalf of the DHET, the Project Team said it was committed to enriching the programme experience by developing and nurturing the candidates’ academic leadership, research, teaching and learning and community engagement. ‘The programme intends to support participants in cultivating their capabilities, dispositions, and knowledge and provide them with resources needed to navigate the expectations and requirements of the professoriate.’
Khathi is the academic leader for Human Body and Function in the School of Laboratory Medicine and Medical Sciences (SLMMS), where he leads a research team with a strong focus on prediabetes and the changes that occur in the body during this condition. He is also a member of a multidisciplinary research team that synthesises and tests experimental metallo compounds on the management of both diabetes and prediabetes. In 2018, Khathi created a novel animal model for diet induced prediabetes, a condition where the blood glucose levels are higher than normal but not high enough for a type 2 diabetes diagnosis. This model was the first in the world to achieve this without any chemical or genetic manipulation. Using this model, he has shown how complications often associated with type 2 diabetes, actually begin during the prediabetic state.
Khathi’s work has further improved society’s understanding of how people with prediabetes are at an increased risk of developing severe COVID-19 symptoms, and even death, due to the asymptomatic nature of the disorder when compared with non-prediabetic individuals. The work was included in a World Health Organization report discussing how prediabetes should be listed as a recognised comorbidity for COVID-19. Khathi is a National Research Foundation (NRF) Y-rated researcher who has, to date, published more than 70 publications, a book chapter and graduated five PhD, 20 master’s and 40 honours students. He is currently supervising 10 master’s and 11 PhD students.
‘I am honoured and excited to be one of the scholars to partake in this prestigious programme and to contribute to knowledge production in the country. Through this programme, I look forward to using my skills to uncover the “secret” behind TB pathogenesis and to find novel solutions to control Tuberculosis,’ said Mvubu who looks forward to increasing her academic networks, both locally and internationally. ‘I am also looking forward to great mentorship and coaching sessions that have been set up by FPP. Being an academic professor has always been my dream and through this programme, I am getting closer to realising it.’
Mvubu has supervised six master’s and one PhD student to completion in TB, bioinformatics and molecular biology research, with several publications in Quartile 1 and Quartile 2 international journals. She currently holds an National Research Foundation (NRF) Y-rating (2023) and her research interests are on host immune response to Tuberculosis and exploiting Bioinformatics tools to understand infectious disease pathogenesis.
Khathi, who said he looked forward to embarking on his Future Professors journey, encourages young people to take keen interest in their health and wellbeing. ‘We need to encourage more youngsters to pursue careers in the health sciences,’ he said.
Words: Lunga Memela