Societal Impact of Research Workshop Summit

Professor Bavesh Kana directs a research and innovation unit at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa. He is a consultant for the Bill and Melinda Gates Medical Research Institute in Cambridge, USA. He obtained his PhD at Wits and has worked in several international institutions including the University of Pennsylvania, the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow, Texas A&M University, the Public Health Research Institute in New Jersey and Harvard Medical School. He directed the DSI/NRF Centre of Excellence for Biomedical Tuberculosis (TB) Research, a national centre with nodes at Wits, Stellenbosch University and UCT. He also  represented South Africa on the BRICS TB Research Network and was an external consultant for the South African Medical Research Council.

He studies TB with a focus on developing new drugs, with a shorter treatment duration and fewer side effects. In this context, he has established several clinical cohorts dedicated to better understanding TB treatment response and TB transmission in the household. His laboratory also focuses on new vaccine development. He has translated his research into products that enable quality assurance and verification of TB and Covid diagnostic devices. This has led to spinout a biotech company and currently, these products are being used in over 50 countries around the world.

His outstanding contribution to science and the health of people suffering with TB is illustrated by numerous local and international accolades. In recognition for his pioneering approach to research, Prof. Kana was appointed as an Early Career Scientist of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute where he was selected from over 700 applicants from around the world and represented one of only two awards made to the African continent. He was selected as one of the 200 top young South Africans by the Mail and Guardian newspaper and was also awarded the South African Medical Research Council Scientific Merit Award (Silver and Gold) for outstanding scientific contribution to health research. He received the CEO Titan Award, given to influential men who embody the spirit of excellence and have made meaningful contributions to shift the African landscape towards sustainable growth. For health innovations, his team was awarded the Vice Chancellor’s Innovation Award and the National Science and Technology Forum Innovation Award.