Stellenbosch University
Welcome to Stellenbosch University
Called to be a role model
Author: Le Roux Schoeman
Published: 04/09/2018

​​​

 


 

Just over a decade ago, Prof Soraya Bardien was looking for a challenge.

Her expertise in human genetics had already served as something of an academic passport to studying everything from an eye disease at the University of Cape Town, to inherited cardiac disorders at Stellenbosch University, and diabetes at the University of the Western Cape.

Then she wanted to start her own research group. At the time, it wasn't clear what caused the brain disorder we know as Parkinson's disease (PD), and to this day there aren't accurate statistics on how many South Africans suffer from what Bardien calls “a terrible disease".

The discovery of a genetic component to the disease presented Bardien with an opportunity to focus her talents: “We realised that we needed to identify the genetic causes in the South African population (of PD patients)," she explained.

Bardien joined forces with Prof Jonathan Carr, who heads the Division Neurology at SU and Tygerberg Hospital, and so began work that has seen her most recently receive the prize of second runner-up in the Distinguished Woman Scientist category at the annual South African Women in Science Awards (SAWISA) ceremony, which was held in Polokwane at the end of August 2018. 


 

Today, Bardien not only leads a team doing genetic analysis to find the causes of PD, this NRF-rated researcher also serves as role model in the Human Molecular Genetics Laboratory at Stellenbosch University's Tygerberg Campus. “I have to show that you can achieve a lot in your career - even if you are a woman in this country," she says.

From behind a lab computer, Amica Müller-Nedebock, studying mitochondrial DNA in South African PD patients, says about Bardien: “I read about 'Prof' last year and was really interested in her work, and I was inspired to come and work here for the PD group."

​Bardien grew up in Athlone on the Cape Flats. She knew from childhood that she was going to be a scientist. Her love of the subject has grown to the point where she likens work to a hobby. Of course her role has changed since she started out in academia, she adds. Lab time has dwindled as desk time and supervision responsibilities have climbed: “Over the years we've hosted five post-doctoral research fellows and graduated five doctoral students, and at a least 20 honours and masters students," Bardien recalls.

Bardien's medical mission, of course, is no quick fix. “We're trying to look at all 20 000 genes of the genome to find which one of those has a defect and it really is like finding a needle in a haystack."

On a busy recent workday, Bardien had yet to find a suitable spot on her office wall to hang her SAWISA certificate. It might end up near a striking picture of her taken 20 years ago during a perilous hike in the Hex River Mountains: “I always like to look at that picture and think about how there is a lot out there that is so exciting and scary, but you overcome it in the end."

Captions

Banner: Prof Soraya Bardien, in the laboratory where she heads the Parkinson's Disease Research Group.

Insert: Prof Bardien at a machine used for detecting genetic defects in DNA obtained from patients.

Video and photos: Le Roux Schoeman