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JuniorTukkie November 2021
News
Mail & Guardian and UP celebrate those who make a positive impact on society By Anthea Pretorius
For the past 15 years, the Mail & Guardian has identified 200 young South Africans whose impact on society is tangible. In 2021, the newspaper received 5 300 nominations. Over these years, they have been convinced that the youth of South Africa is committed to making ours a better country. The Gala Event was held on 24 June 2021. The 2021 theme was: Resilience and Innovation for Excellence. Nominees could indicate their impact in any of 14 categories and they range from civil society to health, with a special category for young
people who have saved and changed the lives of others during the COVID-19 pandemic. UP staff and students have served using their unique skill sets and networks. Over the years, the University of Pretoria (UP) has had staff members, students and alumni featured on the list, furthering the University’s aim to produce citizens who are not only suitably qualified, but also committed to using their skill sets in service of the communities they live and work in.
Jolandi Jacobs, who obtained a master’s degree in physiotherapy in 2021, writes: ‘UP has provided me with the knowledge and expertise to make an impact in the sports physiotherapy sector. I am very passionate about working with female athletes and empowering women in sports. Running Raspberries, which was founded in 2020 as a female running community, has as its goal the empowerment of women. We help them to achieve their fitness goals in a safe environment. I own a sports rehabilitation centre, called Sports Bodies, which was established in 2021. My areas of expertise include biomechanics, motion analysis, athlete management, and injury prevention. I work as a women’s sports researcher, focusing on women’s cricket. My research goal is to promote injury-free participation in sports. This involves injury surveillance through the collection of injury data, adequate athlete management, and the implementation of injury prevention programmes. Another focus area is to bridge the research gap between male and female sports. It is an honour to be nominated for the 2021 Mail & Guardian Young South African. This award, I believe, is a recognition of the small difference I have made in the sporting community, as well as a preview of what is to come in the future.’
Daniel Ndima, who completed the MSc Biochemistry degree in which he focused on the structural biology of infectious diseases, writes: ‘I was trained by Prof Wolf-Dieter Schubert. My research project aimed to understand the infection life cycle of a pathogen called Listeria monocytogenes and it also included investigating the expansion of its host repertoire. Understanding infection at atomic levels also involves the production and purification of virulent factors, which are the surface proteins that interact with human epithelial cell receptors. The process and strategies for production of these proteins at large scale are analogous to the production of commercial enzymes. My company produces recombinant enzyme technologies for molecular research and diagnostics applications. What the master’s degree at UP helped me with the most was the creation of protein variants that have either strong or weaker functions based on the active sites’ structures and desired commercial outcomes. The Mail & Guardian award under the Science and Technology category confirmed that I am on the right path in the industry. I chose this field with the intention of starting a biotech company and every step I took in doing so was unambiguous. The prestigious award meant that my expedition of creating innovative solutions that impact lives on the continent is noteworthy―and this inspired me to be courageous in my responsible bio-entrepreneurship journey.’
