Mashudu Nemukula from Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University (SMU) in Pretoria, South Africa, is undertaking a Fellowship in New Delhi’s Transcription Regulation Group, as part of the ICGEB Special Programme with South African HDIs.
The ICGEB Special Programme with South African Historically Disadvantaged Institutions (HDIs), in partnership with the South African Department of Science, Technology and Innovation (DSTI), focuses on capacity development and building synergies with HDIs.
In the final call of the Programme in 2024, nine short-term Fellowships were awarded to highly motivated scientists from HDIs in life sciences, human healthcare, and industrial/agricultural biotechnology. Mashudu Nemukula, originally from Ngulumbi, a village in Sibasa, Limpopo Province, South Africa, has spent the last few months at the ICGEB New Delhi Component as a Junior PhD Fellow.
Back home in South Africa, Mashudu is currently pursuing a PhD in Biochemistry and Biotechnology at SMU, his research focusing on developing novel approaches for characterising lipoproteins, particularly in Type 2 diabetes mellitus patients.
Now in his final month of the Fellowship in the Transcription Regulation Group, led by Dr. Neel Sarovar Bhavesh, his research involves the characterisation of lipoproteins in Type 2 diabetes mellitus patients using advanced techniques such as nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR).
Commenting on the Fellowship experience, Mashudu explains that this has been an incredible learning experience, with exposure to state-of-the-art molecular biology techniques such as NMR and metabolomics. He adds that the fellowship has not only broadened his technical skills but also provided an opportunity to collaborate with leading experts in the field. Upon completion of the Fellowship, Mashudu looks forward to the prospect of communicating the research findings to the scientific community.
‘Being the first South African Fellow in New Delhi under the ICGEB HDI Special Programme is an honour and a responsibility I do not take lightly. This initiative is a powerful platform for fostering international collaboration and strengthening research capacity at HDIs like SMU. I hope this program continues to expand, providing more South African researchers with the opportunity to gain global exposure, collaborate internationally, and advance their fields of study’ Mashudu Nemukula
