Data Modelling and Analytics Panel
With the rapid spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, data has become crucial in tracking the path of the virus. The Departments of Health and Science and Innovation are working with entities like the CSIR and the South Africa National Space Agency to do this work.
Data modelling and analysis was one of the three topics discussed at National COVID-19 Conference. Moderated by Prof. Salim Karim the panel of leading experts discussed the topic and its significance.
Prof. Salim Abdool Karim, Director of the Centre for the AIDS Program of Research in South Africa, is a South African clinical infectious diseases epidemiologist who is widely recognised for his research contributions in HIV prevention and treatment. He is Director of the Centre for the AIDS Program of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA) and CAPRISA Professor of Global Health at Columbia University. He is Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research) at the University of KwaZulu-Natal and Adjunct Professor of Medicine at Cornell University, New York. He is also an Associate Member of the Ragon Institute of Massachusetts General Hospital, MIT and Harvard University.
His clinical research on TB and HIV treatment has shaped international guidelines on the clinical management of co-infected patients. He was co-leader of the CAPRISA 004 tenofovir gel trial that provided proof-of-concept that antiretrovirals can prevent sexually transmitted HIV infection and herpes simplex virus type 2 in women. He is co-inventor on patents which have been used in several HIV vaccine candidates and in passive immunisation strategies with broadly neutralising antibodies.
Prof. Karim is Chair of the UNAIDS Scientific Expert Panel, the WHO's HIV Strategic and Technical Advisory Committee as well as the WHO TB-HIV Task Force. He serves on the boards of several journals, including the New England Journal of Medicine, Lancet Global Health, Lancet HIV and mBio. He is a member of the Royal Society of South Africa, the Academy of Science of South Africa, the African Academy of Sciences and the World Academy of Sciences (TWAS). He is a member of the US National Academy of Medicine, the American Academy of Microbiology and the Association of American Physicians.
Mr Risenga Maluleke, was appointed as South Africa's second Statistician-General in November 2017. Before this, he was the Deputy Director-General for Statistical Collections and Outreach, responsible for the provincial offices' data collection for censuses and sample surveys, as well as international statistical development and communication. Maluleke, who has been with Statistics South Africa for the past 20 years, has been instrumental in International Statistical Development.
Maluleke has represented South Africa on countless occasions and has extensive experience in international and diplomatic matters. He has been involved Stats SA's participation in international meetings with the UN Statistical Commission. He has also worked with the Southern African Development Community, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, the African Development Bank, and the African Union Commission. He was extensively involved in driving the Africa Symposium for Statistical Development, and is a member of the High Level Group for Partnership, Coordination and Capacity-Building for Statistics for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
He holds a BSc in Mathematical Statistics from the University of Limpopo and a master's degree in Urban and Regional Science from Stellenbosch University. He has also completed Senior Executive Programmes at the University of the Witwatersrand and Harvard Business Schools.
Prof. Priscilla Reddy is a Behavioural Science and Health Promotion specialist, and is currently the Strategic Lead: Health and Wellbeing, in the Human and Social Capabilities programme at the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC). Previously, she served as Director of the Health Promotion Research and Development Unit of the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC). In her 28-year research career, Prof Reddy has conducted research as a principal investigator in various research areas.
Recently, she has led the HSRC's rapid response assessments of the impact of COVID-19 on South Africa, and the attitudes and responses of the public to the lockdown. Given the high incidence of COVID-19 infections among health workers in South Africa and globally, a concurrent survey examining the impact of COVID-19 on health workers was also conducted. It explored the crucial issues impacting on these frontline workers with a view to ensuring their ability to serve the country at this time. The results of these surveys were presented to the National Coronavirus Command Council and the Cabinet.
Reddy is well known for designing the South African Youth Risk Behaviour Survey, which was conducted in 2002, 2008 and 2011 together with the Global Youth Tobacco Survey. She has conducted rigorous research in the fields of health promotion and behavioural science, including the Post-Apartheid Prison Health Issues Survey (NIH); and Tobacco Control and Prevention in South Africa (NIH RO1), as well as through the recent TeenMom Connect Grant funded by the UK's Medical Research Council. This was an adaptation of MomConnect, a Department of Health initiative which supports maternal health through the use of cellphone-based technologies integrated into maternal and child health services.
She has served on academic boards both nationally and internationally, and promoted 15 PhD graduates through Maastricht University. These academics now provide much-needed research expertise to the African public health sector.
Prof. Sarah Mosoetsa, Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of the Witwatersrand and CEO of the National Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences, is the author of "Eating from one pot: Dynamics of Survival in poor South African households" and co-editor International Labour Organization publication "Labour in the Global South: challenges and alternatives for workers".
Her collaborative projects include "Precarious Labor in Global Perspective, International Labor and Working-class History", "New South African Review 6 – The Crisis of Inequality" and the 2019 "Poverty and Inequality in South Africa" (Transformation: Critical Perspectives on Southern Africa).
Mosoetsa previously worked as a senior researcher at the Human Sciences Research Council and the Development Bank of Southern Africa. She completed her PhD in 2005 at the University of the Witwatersrand.
Prof. Fulufhelo Nelwamondo, Executive Manager for the CSIR Cluster: Next Generation Enterprises and Institutions, is an electrical engineer by training, and holds a PhD in Electrical Engineering in Computational Intelligence from the University of the Witwatersrand.
He is a registered Professional Engineer, and the Executive Manager for the CSIR Cluster: Next Generation Enterprises and Institutions.
Nelwamondo was previously Executive Director for the CSIR Modelling and Digital Science Unit, and is a Visiting Professor at the Institute of Intelligent Systems at the University of Johannesburg. In 2017, Nelwamondo was awarded the Order of Mapungubwe in Silver.
