Khanyisile Kgoadi South Africa 2016 Grantee South Africa Program
Khanyisile is currently a visiting scholar at Emory University where she has secured a postdoctoral position in the Rengarajan lab conducting research on HIV-TB coinfection. Her PhD work which is currently under examination investigated the immune mechanisms associated with central nervous system tuberculosis (CNS-TB), a deadly form of tuberculosis that primarily occurs in children and immunocompromised adults. Publication from her PhD work is under preparation and her masters research on HIV and HAART metabolic complications was published. She has presented her PhD work at local and international conferences, as an invited speaker at some. Her goal is to find a cure for HIV and positively change the lives of people infected and affected by HIV/TB. South Africa has high rates of both HIV and TB with TB being the leading cause of death in her country in 2017. The prevalence of HIV and TB is high is Sub-Saharan Africa and she is working towards being the solution to African health problems that will also benefit the world. She is an emerging young female scientist equipped with strong leadership qualities, knowledge, and great work ethic. Her work and voice have already influenced senior scientists/experts, clinicians, and leaders in the global STEM field who she has engaged/worked with and through networking she has caught their attention as a future collaborator. She is a board member of the South African Immunology Society (SAIS) and has served as SAIS representative entrusted with voting on behalf of her country’s society at the 2019 International Union of Immunological Societies (IUIS 2019 Beijing) Annual General meeting. She is involved in promoting the IUIS 2022 Cape Town together with her mentor (Prof Clive Gray), which prior to the pandemic had been planned be hosted in South Africa on African soil for the first time. During the pandemic in 2020, she helped co-organize and moderate COVID-19 webinar series that were hosted by SAIS and Immunopaedia and attended virtually by local and international audience. Her leadership skills, research and outreach has placed her in a position where she gets invited to work/network with leaders across fields in academia and the scientific community.
Education granted her the opportunity to not only acquire knowledge and skills but also share with learners, students, and the world. During her PhD studies she has inspired and served as a role model to the youth in her country. She won the 2015 South African Women in Science award; and was honored as part of the 2018 Mail and Guardian Top 200 Young South Africans, a phenomenal list that profiles and celebrates exceptional leaders under the age of 35 who are shaping the country’s future. She mentors, motivates, supports, and encourages fellow women to achieve greatness, this includes the four women she nominated for the Top 200 Young South Africans and who made the phenomenal list over the years (2017-2020). She has also won international awards that include the Society for Neuroscience Trainee Professional Development award which recognizes young neuroscientists that demonstrate scientific merit and excellence in research. The MMEG grant positively contributed to reducing the financial limitations associated with her PhD studies and supporting opportunities to achieve career development goals that included being able to attend her first international conference. MMEG grant motivated her to continue doing what she loves, which is learning and teaching because she believes Education is the key to success and unlocks a world of endless possibilities which positively change people’s lives. She said “It has been an absolute honor to be selected and supported by MMEG as one of the exceptional women who positively empower women and children through Education”.
She has been involved in the training of next generation of scientists and medical doctors in her roles as university teaching assistant, tutor, practical demonstrator, facilitator, and faculty instructor to undergraduate and postgraduate students. She was invited to serve as a faculty instructor by a neuroscience emeritus professor (Prof Vivienne Russell) at the 2018 International Brain Research Organization-UCT (IBRO-UCT) Africa Advanced School of Neuroimmunology and Gut-brain Axis. She delivered a lecture on neuroimmunology and trained the diverse participants (Masters, PhD and Medical doctors) from across Africa on the flow cytometry technique through experiments she organized and led. Coming from a disadvantage background, she experienced first-hand the financial difficulties faced by university students and it led to her taking the lead in a fundraising phonathon initiated by the late UCT Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS) Dean (Prof Bongani Mayosi) for medical students that were facing financial exclusion in 2017. In her capacity as the vice chairperson of the FHS Postgraduate Health Sciences Student’s council, she voluntary recruited students and worked with them in a team she led for the phonathon together with the UCT Development and Alumni Department. The team raised funds which exceeded the set target and it made her feel Proud and Happy for the achievement that helped fellow students. She cares for her community and the well-being of others and that is why she actively participates in outreach programs. She has mentored Grade 12 learners from IkamvaYouth, an organization that enables disadvantaged youth to pull themselves out of poverty and into tertiary education or employment. Her weekends during her PhD studies were spent tutoring Maths and Physical Science to grade 11 learners at a disadvantaged school in the Gugulethu township. She has given voluntary and invited motivational talks to learners, which include: (1) Top grade 11 & 12 performers in Maths and Physical Science from across the Western Cape Province who come from disadvantaged backgrounds and (2) mGenAfrica life sciences competition #mGenQuiz2019. The mGenAfrica platform is an initiative of UCT in partnership with the Western Cape Education Department that introduces learners to careers in STEM by promoting interaction between high school learners and research staff working in genomics and other health research fields across Africa. She also served as a voluntary judge for the 2019 Eskom Cape Town Expo for Young scientists (school learners). She fights for Education for All. She is Grateful for the Amazing support and opportunities she has been granted by her friends, family, mentors, organizations, funders and everyone who played a role in shaping her career growth with all Glory to the Almighty God.
