NEWS
2022
UPDATE ON SASBMB COUNCIL
The very first SASBMB council meeting was held recently (28/02/2022) under the leadership of SASBMB president Francois Van Der Westhuizen. Jo de la Mare from Rhodes University was elected as the new Vice-President of SASBMB, handing over her reigns as secretary to the newly elected council member Carmen Pheiffer from the SAMRC. In addition, Wolf-Dieter Schubert from University of Pretoria was elected as treasurer. Two new postgraduate students were also elected to serve on council, namely Karli Bothma a PhD student from Stellenbosch University and Christie Smit a MSc student from Rhodes University.
28TH SASBMB CONGRESS
Council is delighted to announce that the 28th SASBMB congress will be hosted by the University of Venda in 2024!
The Local Organizing committee is led by Prof Addmore Shonhai from the department of Biochemistry and Microbiology at UniVen. We thank Addmore and his team for stepping up to the plate and wish them all the best with the planning for the congress. We trust that the COVID-19 pandemic will have subsided to the point that we can meet face-to-face in Thohoyandou in June/July 2024!
PROF KAPPO ELECTED AS VICE-PRESIDENT OF FASBMB
Congratulations to Prof Paul Kappo who was elected as vice-president of the Federation of African Societies of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (FASBMB). This is amazing for SASBMB and South Africa.
2021
PROF IAN DUBERY RETIRING AFTER 40 YEARS AS A SCIENTIST AND ACADEMIC
The Executive Council of SASBMB, would will like to congratulate Prof Dubery on this occasion of his retirement; for all he has painstakingly achieved over many years and specifically thank him for meritorious service to Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in South Africa and Africa. We wish this “faithful servant of Biochemistry” good health as he embarked upon this new phase of his life. It is our desire that though retired, he will still be much available to offer service to this esteemed discipline of science.
Prof Dubery who is a professor in the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Johannesburg is retiring after 40 years as a scientist and academic. Follow the link to read more about Prof Dubery’s contribution to Biochemistry and his recognition by the Department of Biochemistry at UJ.
Prof Abidemi Paul Kappo
President: SASBMB
CONGRATULATIONS TO PROF IQBAL PARKER
Prof Iqbal Parker, co-opted member of our SASBMB council and invaluable member of our society has recently been elected as Vice-President of the Governing Council for the Southern Africa Region by the African Academy of Sciences (AAS). This prestigious organisation encourages excellence through fellowships and award schemes thereby shaping Science, Technology & Innovation in Africa. Fellows of the AAS are recognised for their excellence in their field of expertise and have made contributions to the advancement of the field on the African continent.
Read more here: http://aasciences.africa/governing-council
CONGRATULATIONS TO DR PRISCILLA MASAMBA
Congratulations to Dr Priscilla Masamba who is the first University of Zululand researcher to use the UK’s National Synchrotron Light Source, Diamond!!! Dr Masamba, using the Diamond’s I04-1 beamline remotely from South Africa, solved the partial structure of a protein from Schistosoma mansoni. Access to the synchrotron was made possible by GCRF-START. The collaboration between Prof Abidemi Paul Kappo (SASBMB’s current president), who heads up to Biotechnology & Structural Biology (BSB) Research group in the Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology at the University of Zululand and Prof Trevor Sewell (SASBMB Gold award winner), START Principal Investigator of UCT’s Aaron Klug Centre for Imaging & Analysis facilitated Dr Masamba to use the synchrotron. Please read more about Dr Masamba’s wonderful achievement by following the link: