From left: Prof Sandy Lazarus, Mrs Mildred Dreyer, Prof Salim Karim, Prof John Faris, Prof Mamokgethi Phakeng, Dr Buhle Mbambo-Thata, Prof Rushiella Songca, Prof Lessing Labuschagne, Prof Greg Cuthbertson, Mr Glen Barnes, Prof Mohamed Seedat, Prof Ashley van Niekerk, Mr Anesh Sukhai & Prof Kopano Ratele
Prof Mamokgethi Phakeng, accompanied by several institutional leaders and researchers, led a visit to the Medical Research Council’s (MRC) Head Office in Cape Town. The delegation included Executive Deans, Prof Greg Cuthbertson (College of Graduate Studies) and Prof Rushiella Songca (College of Law); Prof John Faris (Head: Institute for Dispute Resolution in Africa); Prof Lessing Labuschagne (Executive Director: Research and Innovation); Dr Buhle Mbambo-Thata (Executive Director: Library Services); and Mr Glen Barnes (Director: Information & Analysis).
The delegation was hosted by the Unisa-MRC Safety and Peace Promotion Research Unit (SAPPRU), one of two programmes housed in the Institute for Social and Health Sciences (ISHS). The two-day visit (October 25-26) was fully programmed and included the launch of a book (co-edited by Ashley van Niekerk, Shahnaaz Suffla and Mohamed Seedat); discussions with the President of the MRC, Prof Salim Abdool Karim; a review of the ISHS’s research activities and development plans; and a site visit to Erijaville, one of the Helderberg region communities in which the SAPPRU conducts community engaged research.
The book, representing a comprehensive review of the state of the science on child safety, is intended as a resource for policy-makers and violence and injury prevention workers. For more details, see http://www.mrc.ac.za/crime/review.htm or contact Prof Ashley van Niekerk at ashley.vanniekerk@mrc.ac.za.
The discussions with Prof Abdool Karim were illuminating of the MRC’s revitalisation strategy (http://www.mrc.ac.za/pressreleases/2012/9press2012.htm). Prof Abdool Karim highlighted the possibilities of extending the current Unisa-MRC collaboration. He suggested that, in addition to the current focus on violence and injury prevention research, there may be scope to enter into collaborations with the MRC in other areas, such as legal medicine, behavioural dimensions of HIV/Aids and nursing. Both Professors Abdool Karim and Phakeng commended the ISHS for its efforts in maintaining and growing the inter-institutional, multi-disciplinary and trans-disciplinary research.
The visit represented an opportunity for members of the Unisa delegation to engage with different models of conducting community-centred research, constructing inter-institutional collaborations, and institutionalising a culture of routine self-assessment and reflexivity, as exemplified by the Institute for Social and Health Sciences. The visit, initiated by Prof Phakeng’s office, is part of the university’s visionary drive to grow linkages with medical and public health institutions, and foster trans-disciplinary research, championed by the College for Graduate Studies (http://www.unisa.ac.za/cgs).
* Story submitted by Lyndsey Lourie
