Five Emerging Researchers Honoured by Dean for Best Publications
The Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS), Associate Professor Lionel Green-Thompson, recently recognised five up-and-coming researchers — comprising two early-career scholars and three postgraduate students — for earning the Faculty’s 2025 Best Publication Awards.
Since its inception in 2019, the Best Publications Awards annually spotlight emerging researchers whose work has appeared in high-caliber journals within their field. This year’s laureates are Ms Rachel Brown, Dr Michele Tomassichio, Dr Catherine Wedderburn, Dr Mereille Porter, and Dr Camryn Terblanche.
A selection panel drawn from the FHS — consisting of senior academics across basic sciences, public health, and health and rehabilitation sciences — judged these recipients to have produced the most outstanding and original research. Each awardee will receive prize money ranging from R5,000 to R10,000.
To celebrate their achievement, the Dean invited the awardees and their supervisors to a session in his suite. The purpose was to extend congratulations and to give them a platform to share the focus of their research. Their curiosity and scholarly rigor serve as an inspiration, and the FHS wishes them continued success in their future endeavors.
Highlights of the awardees and their winning works:
- Ms Rachel Brown — Basic Laboratory Sciences: “Progress and Potential of Brain Organoids in Epilepsy Research” (https://stemcellres.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13287-024-03944-5).
- Dr Michele Tomasicchio — Basic Laboratory Sciences (joint award): “SARS-CoV-2 Viral Replication Persists in the Human Lung for Several Weeks after Symptom Onset” (https://www.atsjournals.org/doi/full/10.1164/rccm.202308-1438OC).
- Dr Catherine Wedderburn — Clinical Sciences: “Association of in Utero HIV Exposure with Child Brain Structure and Language Development: A South African Birth Cohort Study” (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2352301825001663?dgcid=author).
- Dr Mereille Porter — Clinical Sciences (joint award): “First-Line Antituberculosis Drug Challenge Reactions in Drug Reaction With Eosinophilia and Systemic Symptoms Syndrome in an HIV Endemic Setting” (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38852619/).
- Dr Camryn Terblanche — Public Health and Rehabilitation Sciences and Health Science Education: “The Development of Synthetic Child Speech in Three South African Languages” (https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/07434618.2024.2374312).
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