Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Outstanding Hematological Pathologist

UKZN’s Academic Leader for Research in the School of Laboratory Medicine and Medical Sciences (SLMMS), Professor Bongani Nkambule, is one of only two UKZN academics to receive the 2023 Vice-Chancellor’s Research Award!

The award – an annual accolade designed to recognise academic excellence – is open to academic staff under the age of 40 who have demonstrated exceptional contributions to research, alongside a sustained record of scholarship or creative endeavour. The award celebrates scholars whose work exemplifies the highest standards of innovation and impact.

Born in Ermelo, Mpumalanga, Nkambule holds a PhD in Hematological Pathology obtained in 2015 from Stellenbosch University. He is a Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) registered medical biological scientist in the Discipline of Hematology (Independent Practice), and a committee member on American Heart Association (AHA) Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology (ATVB) & Lifestyle Clinical Lipidology, lipoprotein, Metabolism and Thrombosis Committee.

Nkambule has received several prestigious fellowships during his time at UKZN, including the UKZN Fogarty international Center (FIC)-funded Developing Research, Innovation, Localisation and Leadership in South Africa (DRILL) fellowship (2016-2021), a National Institutes of Health (NIH) Senior Research Fellowship (2021-2023) at the world’s leading Laboratory of Hemostasis and Platelet Biology, National Institutes of Health/National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) and the Framingham Heart Study (USA). He has also been awarded numerous research awards, including the 2019 SLMMS Top-performing Senior Lecturer Award (Research Productivity) and the UKZN Top 10 Young Researcher Award in 2021, 2022 and 2023 (three consecutive years).

Nkambule has published what is understood to be the largest ever study on dyslipidemia and platelet function. In his research career spanning just more than eight years, he has published 116 peer-reviewed publications; graduated more than six doctoral students and 10 master’s students in the past six years (2018-2024) and is currently the main supervisor of 11 postgraduate students (five doctoral candidates and six master’s students).

Nkambule is also Principal Investigator (PI) on several multi-disciplinary projects which have attracted over R6 million in local grant funding and is currently the PI on a multinational population-based study on platelet function, funded by the National Institutes of Health, which aims to provide the largest dataset on platelet traits in a sub-Saharan Africa population. The primary focus of Nkambule’s laboratory on the Westville campus is on immunohematology, platelet function and immune thrombosis in infectious disease and malignancies.

Said Nkambule: ‘Receiving the prestigious Vice-Chancellor’s Award validates and recognises my contribution to the pursuit of research excellence at UKZN. The VC award is an affirmation and encouragement for a persistent pursuit of research excellence and a much-needed focus of impact driven and innovative research in Africa.’

Nkambule said the academic landscape in South Africa had significantly changed in the last decade as the corridors of most institutions were basking with young talented academics, testament to the success of policies enabling redress and access for young talented individuals into the academic arena. ‘It is important for young academics to continually raise research standards far above the expected norm and in the process build intentional networks. For South Africa to benefit from its investment in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics), young researchers need to excel to position themselves as creators and co-creators of innovation and not mere consumers of knowledge.’

•    Nkambule expresses his passion for research in this YouTube video.

Words: Lunga Memela

Photograph: Supplied