Wits’ achievements in research

WITS RESEARCH AND Digital Transformation

Wits University continues to generate high-quality, locally-relevant knowledge that matches and exceeds global standards in research fields like Covid-19, HIV, genetics, quantum computing, energy, migration, diversity and inequality. Wits has long been recognised as a global leader in HIV research and has contributed a vast amount of knowledge in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, amongst other research highlights.

COVID-19 VACCINE TRIALS Wits scientists, researchers and clinicians are at the forefront of fighting COVID-19 in SA. Wits led SA and Africa’s first Covid-19 vaccine trials - the Oxford/ AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine trial and the Novavax Covid-19 vaccine trial.

NEW INJECTION TO PREVENT HIV An HIV study showed that a newly discovered injection was more effective than the current daily HIV pill to prevent HIV in women. Wits University’s Early unblinding of the long-acting cabotegravir (CAB LA) is a milestone for prevention of HIV among women in sub Saharan Africa.

REPURPOSING DRUGS TO TREAT DANGEROUS DISEASES Drug repurposing (or repositioning) is a cost-efficient approach that eliminates the lengthy timeframes of conventional drug development, thus giving patients treatment sooner. New uses are identified for a drug outside of its original scope of indication, resulting in more effective treatment. The head of the Wits Advanced Drug Delivery Platform (WADDP) research unit notes how drug repurposing may reduce the risks associated with the process of conventional drug discovery and development, as existing knowledge on candidate drugs can be further developed more quickly and enhanced.

MOST INFLUENTIAL RESEARCH ON FRACTAL LIGHT The Optical Society of America named Wits’ research involving fractal light from lasers as the most influential in optics and photonics. Climate scientists are developing the first Earth System Model based in Africa which will contribute to the fight against the climate emergency.

MAJOR AFRICAN GENOME STUDY Wits geneticists have discovered more than three million new genetic and susceptibility variants which informs African population history, environmental adaptation and susceptibility to disease.

PECO GRID PeCo grids aim to address the challenge of access to electricity by providing smart solar solutions for household electrification. The PeCo grid is an innovative, robust, affordable and easy-to-use off-grid electrification solution that can seamlessly expand as the user’s needs grow, thus giving users the freedom to choose their own energy solution. It is an innovative alternative to utility grid electrification, which can reach the unreachable, such as the sparse populations of indigent households in the rural regions of Sub-Saharan Africa.

DRIVING DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION Wits is a leader in digital business and governance, big data, artificial intelligence, robotics, supercomputing, and quantum computing. WitsQ - the Wits Quantum Initiative, an African first, seeks to advance quantum technologies through research, innovation, business, education, outreach and ethics. www.wits.ac.za/future

THE WITS DIGITAL DOME This is an iconic centenary project that will support data science exploration and discovery in radio astronomy, fluid dynamics, the digital arts, and lightning studies – to be held in the current Planetarium space. The Planetarium will be modernised to a full-dome, real-time, interactive digital system that provides the opportunity to broaden this role to well beyond astronomy. The Wits Digital Dome will serve as a new hub for Researchers and Postgraduate training across many disciplines, from the sciences through to the arts and the many connections in between, to inspire a new generation of scientists and explorers.

WITS SCIENTISTS HAVE DISCOVERED: • a new species of dinosaur the dung beetle wind compass an asteroid that contributed to mass extinction and climate change an ancient drop of water that rewrites the Earth’s history.

WITS STUDENTS HAVE DEVELOPED: • a new genetic mobile application an off-grid solution to electrify households in

Africa (PeCo Grid) and, self-sanitising surfaces to prevent infections in hospitals.

Wits Professors developed technology using molecular diagnostics that ensures the efficacy of the equipment that tests for tuberculosis. The technology increases access to TB testing, which improves the diagnosis and treatment of TB around the world, and ultimately inhibits further infection. They also developed the SmartSpot technology which guarantees the quality of the molecular diagnostic tests, and which is used in more than 30 countries worldwide.