Lecturers
LECTURERS TYPICALLY INCLUDE:
Nceba Gqaleni, PhD
Nceba trained as a biochemist at the former University of Natal. He obtained his doctorate at the University of Strathclyde in Scotland in 1996. His area of research was applied or environmental microbiology. He is a National Research Foundation–rated researcher with an interest in mycotoxins and indoor air quality, particularly bioaerosols and aeroallergens. He leads the University of KwaZulu-Natal Medical School’s traditional medicine program and chairs its indigenous healthcare systems research program. He has served on the Presidential Task Team on African Traditional Medicine; the Expert Committee on the bio-prospecting program under the National Department of Science and Technology; and the WHO African Regional Office’s committee on traditional medicine.
Andy Gray, MS
Andy is a pharmacist and senior lecturer in the Department of Therapeutics and Medicines Management, Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine, University of KwaZulu-Natal, in Durban. He is also consultant pharmacist for the Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa. Andy is a fellow of the Pharmaceutical Society of South Africa, past president of the South African Association of Hospital and Institutional Pharmacists, and president of the Hospital Pharmacy Section of the International Pharmaceutical Federation. He has served as a reviewer for numerous scientific journals and has been a member of the editorial committee of the South African Health Review. He has been actively involved in the development and assessment of medicines and other health-related law in South Africa.
Stephen Knight, PhD
Stephen is a physician and senior lecturer in public health medicine at the School of Nursing in Public Health, College of Health Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal. He graduated from the University of Witwatersrand with a BSc (Med) and an MB and BCh in 1976 and worked for 10 years as a clinician and hospital manager in rural KwaZulu-Natal, where he completed diplomas in tropical medicine and hygiene, public health, and primary healthcare education at Wits University. His specialist training as a public health medicine physician was completed in Durban. His academic interests include epidemiology and infectious disease control, climate and health, and public health education. He is an executive member of the Public Health Association of South Africa and the College of Public Health Medicine.
Pranitha Maharaj, PhD
Pranitha is a senior lecturer at the School of Development Studies and the academic coordinator of the master’s in population studies program. She holds a doctorate in epidemiology and population health from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, United Kingdom. Her research focuses mainly on sexual and reproductive health, especially HIV/AIDS and family planning. She has published numerous scientific articles in local and international peer-reviewed journals, abstracts, research reports, and chapters in books. She has many years of teaching experience at the undergraduate and postgraduate level and has supervised 20 master’s dissertations. In 2007, she was awarded the Erasmus Mundus Scholarship to carry out scholarly work in Europe.
Indres Moodley, PhD
Indres is director of the Health Outcomes Research Unit in the Department of Community Health at the Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine, University of KwaZulu-Natal. Prior to that, he was involved in drug discovery research in London, Paris, and the United States. In 1995, he was appointed as chair and head of the Department of Pharmacy and Pharmacology at the Medical School, University of the Witwatersrand. In 2000, he was invited to join the Pharmacia Corporation in South Africa as director of health economics and later jointly held the position of medical affairs director.
Yunus Moosa, PhD
Yunus is associate professor, chief specialist, and head of the Department of Infectious Diseases at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. He obtained his undergraduate and postgraduate degrees at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban. He trained in clinical infectious diseases and obtained a PhD in immunology and microbiology at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. His research interests include immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome, smear negative tuberculosis, and anti-retroviral drug resistance.
Steve Reid, PhD
Steve is a family physician with extensive experience in clinical practice, education, and research in the field of rural health in South Africa. As a conscientious objector to military service in the 1980s at Bethesda Hospital in northeastern KwaZulu-Natal, he was involved in community initiatives in health in the Bethesda health ward and completed his master’s thesis in family medicine on the topic of the community involvement of rural clinic nurses. He has published extensively on the issue of compulsory community service and is involved in research projects in the field of rural health, including medical education, human resources for health, and HIV and AIDS. In 2010, he became Glaxo-Wellcome Chair of Primary Health Care at the University of Cape Town.
Zandile Wanda-Mthembu, PhD candidate
Zandile obtained a bachelor’s in social science in psychology and a master’s in sociology, research, and policy studies from the University of Natal and is working on her PhD in public health. She has also completed certificate courses in good clinical practice, basic and advanced counseling, ethics and clinical trials, first aid, and basic facilitation skills. Zandile has extensive work experience in the fields of TB, HIV, and AIDS. She has worked for the UKZN International Office, the Human Science Research Council, BroadReach Healthcare International, and the KZN Provincial Department of Health, where she developed a provincial TB communications strategy. Currently, she works with the Office of the Presidency, evaluating the effectiveness of public health and social development initiatives.