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Division of Medical Ethics and Law

​​​​​ARESA

Postgraduate Diploma in Health Research Ethics:​ Trainees 2015

Dr Dudu Jankie
Dr. Dudu Jankie is a senior lecturer in the Department of Languages & Social Sciences Education, Faculty of Education at the University of Botswana. She completed her PhD at the University of Wisconsin – Madison in 2001. Dr Jankie has been a member of the University of Botswana Institutional Review Board (UB-IRB) since October 4, 2011.


Dr Retha Visagie
Dr Retha Visagie is the Manager: of Research Integrity at the University of South Africa (UNISA). She obtained her DCur degree from the University of Johannesburg in 2010. She is a UNESCO trained ethics educator. Her research niche area is the capacity development of researchers in Higher Education Institutions with a special interest in research integrity and ethics. She has authored a book, peer-reviewed articles and presented numerous papers at national and international conferences.

Dr Gordon Wayne Towers
Dr Gordon Wayne Towers is a population geneticist and is employed as a Senior Lecturer within the Centre of Excellence for Nutrition (CEN) at North-West University (Potchefstroom Campus), South Africa. The main research focus of his laboratory is investigating the interface between nutrition and genetics and how this results in the increased epidemic of non-communicable disease (NCD) currently occurring in developing countries. Dr Towers is also vice-chairperson of the Health Research Ethics Committee (HREC) of the Faculty of Health Sciences at the North-West University (Potchefstroom Campus). He trained in the field of molecular human genetics and received his PhD in 2005 and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Centre for Genome Research, North-West University in 2008.

Dr Shenuka Singh
Dr Shenuka Singh is a Senior Lecturer and Academic Leader (Head) of the Discipline of Dentistry in the School of Health Sciences, UKZN. She has a primary degree in Oral Health, a masters degree in Dental Sciences and a doctoral degree in Dentistry (in the field of Dental Public Health). She is the Chair of the Humanities and Social Sciences Research Ethics Committee at UKZN (2014-2016), the Co-Chair of the School Research and Higher Degrees Committee and a member of the Biomedical Research Ethics Committee (BREC) at UKZN. She presented a paper on Informed Consent for Community Based Oral Health Research at the IDEALS Conference in Cape Town in September 2014.

Mr Lemphi Mayoyo Moremi
Mr Lemphi Mayoyo Moremi is the Principal Research Officer in the Ministry of Health, Botswana and an active member of the Health Research and Development Committee (HRDC) and University of Botswana Research Ethics Committee (UB IRB). He completed his tertiary education at the University of Botswana in 2002 where he majored in Statistics for his Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Sciences. In 2008, he pursued a Master of Science degree in Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa. He is now employed as the Principal Research Officer at the Ministry.


Ms Babazile Shongwe 
Ms Babazile Shongwe holds a diploma in General Nursing and Midwifery and an Advanced Degree in Nursing from the University of the Free State. She has been involved with the health sector for 14 years, having worked for Good Shepherd mission hospital as a Nurse, the Mbabane Government Hospital as a Senior Nurse Clinician and the Mbabane Public Health Unit as a Community Nurse. She is currently working as Research Officer in the Ministry of Health within the Research Unit. She currently serves as Secretary of the Swaziland Ethic Committee. She has also led the process of developing the National Health Research Policy, National Health Research Strategic Plan and National guidelines for researchers as well as participating in development of the National Health Sector strategic Plan (NHSSP).

Ms Melody Shana 
Ms Melody Shana currently serves as a Compliance/Research Officer within the Medical Research Council of Zimbabwe Secretariat for the past six years. Melody is mainly responsible for servicing the National REC hosted by MRCZ. She also assists in running Research Ethics and GCP courses offered by the MRCZ. Melody holds a BSc degree from the University of Zimbabwe and a Diploma in Clinical Trial Monitoring and Research Site Coordination obtained from the Kriger Research Centre-KRC International (Canada). Melody has successfully completed an online Internship as a CRA with the Clinproxy Research Services (Canada).

Ms. Imot Stella
Ms. Imot Stella is currently an IRB Administrator for the Makerere University School of Health Sciences Research and Ethics Committee in Uganda. In 2011, Ms. Imot attained a post graduate diploma in Leadership and Management from Kenyatta University Nairobi Kenya and a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work and Social Administration from Uganda Christian University in 2006. She was awarded a scholarship to pursue training and internship at the NIH Department of Bioethics, Bethesda, Washington DC, in July 2012. She has also attended the Research Ethics and Institutional Review Board operation training held in Cape Town, South Africa from the 24th to 25th October 2014 organized by FHI360. Stella is keen to build her capacity in research ethics such that she may be part of the human resource available to develop and strengthen research ethics systems in Uganda and the region.

Prof Francis Rakotsoane
Prof Francis Rakotsoane is from Lesotho and holds a Bachelor of Philosophy degree from the Urbaniana University, Master of Social Sciences degree and a PhD from the University of Cape Town. He has served as a Tutor, Interim Head of the School of Arts and Humanities, Head of the Department of Theology & Religious Studies and Dean of the Faculty of Humanities. He is currently the Acting Pro-Vice Chancellor of the National University of Lesotho. His research interests cover areas such as education in general, Basotho religious thought, African rites of passage, philosophy of culture; religion and society, African traditional worldviews, African philosophy, environmental ethics, global warming, moral issues and HIV & AIDS.

Dr Beatrice Amugune 
Dr Beatrice Amugune is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, School of Pharmacy of the University of Nairobi. She is a trained pharmacist specialized in Pharmaceutical analysis and holds a doctorate in Pharmaceutical Chemistry from the University of Nairobi. She has been a member of the Kenyatta National Hospital–University of Nairobi Ethics Review Committee (KNH/UON ERC) since 2005. Beatrice completed the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) in Human Subjects’ research and NIH online course on Protecting Human Research Participants. She is currently a Co-investigator in a multidisciplinary NIH Mental Health grant involving staff from the University of Nairobi and the University of Washington. Previously, Beatrice has worked as a backup Consultant Pharmacist at Kenya AIDS Vaccine Initiative Institute of Clinical Research.

Ms Pamela Claassen
Ms Pamela Claassen has a MSc. Degree. She is an Environmental Sociologist at the University of Namibia’s Research and Publications Office. Her interest in research ethics stemmed from frustration during the course of her research activities as a social scientist, believing research is constrained by university research governance structures and regulators of ethical practices that seemed to be mismatched between her own ongoing ethical research practices and the process of obtaining ethical clearance. Her pursuit for answers to the perceived ethical review mismatch, prompted her inclusion in the university’s Interim Ethics Committee in 2009.