CoE-HUMAN Team

Johannesburg Office

Prof Shane Norris | Director

Prof Norris is Director of the DSI-NRF Centre of Excellence in Human Development and Director of the MRC/Wits Developmental Pathways for Health Research Unit, Department of Paediatrics, at the University of the Witwatersrand. He is an epidemiologist with research interests that include child growth and development, obesity, and inter-generational risk of metabolic disease.

Mr Justin Du Toit | Centre & Research Manager

Mr Du Toit joined the CoE-HUMAN as Centre Manager in November 2020. Justin has more than a decade of management and research experience in the private and public sectors. His public sector career began in 2015 as Deputy Director of Research in the Private Office of then Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa. He continued to work with Mr Ramaphosa when he became President of the Republic of South Africa. His work focused on evidence-based research to strengthen ethical and strategic policymaking and governance. Justin’s research interests include land restitution and the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Dr

Ware | Senior Researcher

Dr Ware is a senior researcher at the CoE-HUMAN and an associate director of DPHRU at the University of the Witwatersrand. Her research interests are how health behaviours are impacted by our environment and how these relate to chronic disease risk. She has held funding from the Wellcome Trust to investigate how vascular health is transmitted across three generations in Sowetan families and is the recipient of several bilateral funding awards with UK universities to assess various ways to monitor and shift health behaviours. She is the Research Director of the Wits Health HUBB programme, a research and training initiative empowering young people as agents for change to create healthier communities. She currently holds a C-Rating from the NRF.

Ms Kopano Masemola | DOHaD Africa Project Officer

Ms Masemola is a DOHaD Africa Project Officer and a final year Bachelor of Arts (BA) Student at the University of the Witwatersrand. Her Bachelor of Arts degree majors in International Relations and Political Studies. Her academic interest lies in African agency particularly in terms of Africa’s collaboration with the world. Her career with Wits University commenced in 2018 at Wits plus; Centre for Part-Time Studies, later moved to the Student Enrolment Centre (SEnC), then to DPHRU and now CoE-HUMAN. The mission of DOHaD Africa aligns well with her objective to enhance representation, visibility and agency of Africa through collaboration and participation.

Ms Rebecca Mudau | Research Assistant & Administrator

Ms Mudau joined the CoE-HUMAN in May 2021 as a Research Assistant and Administrator. She has a wealth of experience in business administration support. She previously worked for the South African Post Office as a Data Capturer and Call Centre agent. Before that, she fulfilled the role of Customer Service Agent for South African Airways. Her career began at Bennington Copeland Associates as a part-time administrator and receptionist.

Prof Monde Makiwane | Honorary Appointee

Prof Monde is currently a Director of MBMak (Pty) LTD which is an independent research company. He hold a C-rating from the National Research Foundation and has held positions as Extra-Ordinary Professor at the Walter Sisulu University and an Honorary Associate Professor at the CoE-HUMAN at the University of Witwatersrand. He has a BSc degree in Statistics and Computer Science from the University of the Western Cape, a Master’s Degree in Social Science in Sociology from the University of KwaZulu-Natal and a PhD in Demography from the University of the Witwatersrand. In addition, he held two fellowships: one at Harvard University and another at the University of Pennsylvania. He has previously lectured undergraduate and graduate students at Walter Sisulu University. His current areas of research interest include: ageing, family, gender, intergenerational relations, youth, teenage sexuality, fertility, social security and migration. His publication record includes a number of international and national conference presentations and journal articles. His research expertise lies in family sociology, gender, applied statistics, demography and data management. Currently, he is working with Prof Leeson, Director at the Oxford Institute of Ageing, on the broad topic of Longevity.

Dr Roisin Drysdale | Postdoctoral Fellow

Dr Drysdale is a postdoctoral fellow at the DSI-NRF CoE-HUMAN at the University of the Witwatersrand. She holds a doctoral degree (PhD) in Public Health and a Master’s degree in Development Studies (MDev) from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, as well as a Bachelors with honours (BA (Hons)) in Geography from the University of Plymouth (UK). Her research interests are focused around how household factors such as poverty and food insecurity affect individual child health, growth, nutritional status and development, and is currently investigating how the COVID-19 pandemic indirectly affected child growth and well-being.