{"id":779,"date":"2025-01-20T13:55:04","date_gmt":"2025-01-20T13:55:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/saci2025.bisdesign.co.za\/?page_id=779"},"modified":"2026-06-16T16:59:48","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T16:59:48","slug":"invited-speakers","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/saci.co.za\/FW2026\/invited-speakers\/","title":{"rendered":"Keynote Speakers"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-page\" data-elementor-id=\"779\" class=\"elementor elementor-779\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-0a45968 e-flex e-con-boxed wpr-particle-no wpr-jarallax-no wpr-parallax-no wpr-sticky-section-no e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"0a45968\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;classic&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5f921b1 e-con-full e-flex wpr-particle-no wpr-jarallax-no wpr-parallax-no wpr-sticky-section-no e-con e-child\" data-id=\"5f921b1\" data-element_type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-907035c elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"907035c\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Keynote Speakers<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-7bcb688 e-flex e-con-boxed wpr-particle-no wpr-jarallax-no wpr-parallax-no wpr-sticky-section-no e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"7bcb688\" data-element_type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-19d4f69 e-flex e-con-boxed wpr-particle-no wpr-jarallax-no wpr-parallax-no wpr-sticky-section-no e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"19d4f69\" data-element_type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6df8832 e-con-full e-flex wpr-particle-no wpr-jarallax-no wpr-parallax-no wpr-sticky-section-no e-con e-child\" data-id=\"6df8832\" data-element_type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-7b72310 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"7b72310\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Prof. Edith M Antunes<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-38588de elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"38588de\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h5 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\"><b>University of the Western Cape, South Africa<\/b><\/h5>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-54797f1 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"54797f1\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Prof. Edith M. Antunes (Beukes) is an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of the Western Cape, South Africa. With a PhD in Chemistry from Rhodes University, Prof. Antunes focused on natural products chemistry, green nanomaterials synthesis, and advanced NMR spectroscopy. Her research bridges marine and terrestrial natural product discovery, bioactive compound isolation, solid-state and solution NMR, and the sustainable synthesis and characterization of functional nanomaterials. She has made contributions to developing eco-friendly techniques for synthesizing nanomaterials and exploring their applications as catalysts and bioactive agents, closely aligning with global sustainability goals.<\/p><p>Prof. Antunes&#8217; achievements include over 100 peer-reviewed publications, several book chapters, and invitations to speak at national and international conferences. She is committed to capacity building through the supervision of numerous MSc and PhD students and serves as a member of organizations such as the American Society of Pharmacognosy and the South African Chemical Institute.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-8c64c68 e-con-full e-flex wpr-particle-no wpr-jarallax-no wpr-parallax-no wpr-sticky-section-no e-con e-child\" data-id=\"8c64c68\" data-element_type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-e94175a elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"e94175a\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/saci.co.za\/FW2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/elementor\/thumbs\/Prof-Edith-Antunes-rbhty8h16uqqfinlc4frnzp18926y7p6lrxlfa8l9c.jpg\" title=\"Prof Edith Antunes\" alt=\"Prof Edith Antunes\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-8788f1a e-flex e-con-boxed wpr-particle-no wpr-jarallax-no wpr-parallax-no wpr-sticky-section-no e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"8788f1a\" data-element_type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-a45d2d1 e-con-full e-flex wpr-particle-no wpr-jarallax-no wpr-parallax-no wpr-sticky-section-no e-con e-child\" data-id=\"a45d2d1\" data-element_type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-eed59c1 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"eed59c1\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"493\" height=\"368\" src=\"https:\/\/saci.co.za\/FW2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Prof-Winston-Nxumalo.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-3705\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/saci.co.za\/FW2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Prof-Winston-Nxumalo.jpg 493w, https:\/\/saci.co.za\/FW2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Prof-Winston-Nxumalo-300x224.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 493px) 100vw, 493px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-fc61214 e-con-full e-flex wpr-particle-no wpr-jarallax-no wpr-parallax-no wpr-sticky-section-no e-con e-child\" data-id=\"fc61214\" data-element_type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1677a4f elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"1677a4f\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Prof. Winston Nxumalo<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-ac6d7a3 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"ac6d7a3\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h5 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\"><b>University of Limpopo, South Africa<\/b><\/h5>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-20af732 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"20af732\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Prof. Winston Nxumalo obtained his PhD from the University of the Witwatersrand in 2011. He did his post-doc at GSK (Spain) and iThemba Pharmaceuticals from March 2011 until April 2012, working on developing new drugs to treat TB. He joined the University of Limpopo as a senior lecturer in May 2012, and became Professor of Chemistry in 2021. Prof. Nxumalo\u2019s research interests are in medicinal chemistry, focusing on synthesis of heterocyclic compounds and isolation of bioactive compounds from medicinal plants which are tested for activity against various diseases such as TB, malaria and cancer. His research also focusses on Continuous Flow Technology in the synthesis of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API). Winston is a leader of the UL-MEDCHEM research group and a full member of the Grand Challenge African Drug Discovery Accelerator (GC ADDA) network.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-ba035d3 e-flex e-con-boxed wpr-particle-no wpr-jarallax-no wpr-parallax-no wpr-sticky-section-no e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"ba035d3\" data-element_type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-ed21016 e-con-full e-flex wpr-particle-no wpr-jarallax-no wpr-parallax-no wpr-sticky-section-no e-con e-child\" data-id=\"ed21016\" data-element_type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-56578ad elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"56578ad\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Prof. Tricia Naicker<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-f22ffca elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"f22ffca\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h5 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\"><b>University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa<\/b><\/h5>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6f83d9e elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"6f83d9e\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span lang=\"EN-ZA\" style=\"font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; color: black;\">Professor Tricia Naicker<\/span><span class=\"apple-converted-space\"><span lang=\"EN-ZA\" style=\"font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; color: black;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/span><span lang=\"EN-ZA\" style=\"font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; color: black;\">received her M.Sc. (<i>cum laude<\/i>) in Chemistry in 2008 and Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Chemistry in 2011 from the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN). She subsequently undertook an Oppenheimer-funded postdoctoral fellowship in asymmetric catalysis under the mentorship of<span class=\"apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif;\">Professor KA J\u00f8rgensen, a globally recognized leader in the field<\/span>, at Aarhus University, Denmark. Since 2013, she has led independent research at the<span class=\"apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif;\">Catalysis and Peptide Research Unit (CPRU)<\/span><span class=\"apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>at UKZN.<\/span><\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span lang=\"EN-ZA\" style=\"font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; color: black;\">A highly published scientist with peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, and a patent, her research is centred on the organic synthesis of biologically relevant intermediates, with a focus on antibacterial agents. Her work is embedded within a multidisciplinary team at the<span class=\"apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif;\">CPRU<\/span>, fostering collaborations across synthetic chemistry, microbiology, analytical chemistry, and computational modelling. She has successfully mentored numerous postgraduate students and remains deeply engaged in science outreach and capacity development.<\/span><\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span lang=\"EN-ZA\" style=\"font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; color: black;\">Professor Naicker has been inaugurated into national (SAYAS, OWSD) and international (AAS) scientific academies and has served on the executive committees of these prestigious bodies. Her scientific excellence has been recognised through several awards, including the Taylor &amp; Francis\u2013John C. Warner Prize, the DST Women in Science Award, and the SACI Raikes Medal. She currently serves as Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the<span class=\"apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><em><span style=\"font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif;\">South African Journal of Chemistry<\/span><\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-0551396 e-con-full e-flex wpr-particle-no wpr-jarallax-no wpr-parallax-no wpr-sticky-section-no e-con e-child\" data-id=\"0551396\" data-element_type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-a5aee0c elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"a5aee0c\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"406\" height=\"357\" src=\"https:\/\/saci.co.za\/FW2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Prof-Tricia.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-3756\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/saci.co.za\/FW2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Prof-Tricia.jpg 406w, https:\/\/saci.co.za\/FW2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Prof-Tricia-300x264.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 406px) 100vw, 406px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-96e9cd2 e-flex e-con-boxed wpr-particle-no wpr-jarallax-no wpr-parallax-no wpr-sticky-section-no e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"96e9cd2\" data-element_type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1bca74e e-con-full e-flex wpr-particle-no wpr-jarallax-no wpr-parallax-no wpr-sticky-section-no e-con e-child\" data-id=\"1bca74e\" data-element_type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-b0e0d64 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"b0e0d64\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/saci.co.za\/FW2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/elementor\/thumbs\/Prof-Watts-rbk09ynj12qio2ue3yrshfydluzfmztka4oenhefmo.jpg\" title=\"Prof Watts\" alt=\"Prof Watts\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5a1b22e e-con-full e-flex wpr-particle-no wpr-jarallax-no wpr-parallax-no wpr-sticky-section-no e-con e-child\" data-id=\"5a1b22e\" data-element_type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-9deadbe elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"9deadbe\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Prof. Paul Watts<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4547f26 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"4547f26\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h5 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\"><b>Nelson Mandela University, South Africa<\/b><\/h5>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-82df72b elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"82df72b\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Prof. Paul Watts graduated from the University of Bristol (UK) in 1995 with a first class BSc (Hons) degree in chemistry. He continued his studies at Bristol, obtaining a PhD in bio-organic natural product chemistry in 1999. Paul subsequently worked as a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Hull, where he pioneered organic synthesis in micro reactors. In February 2002, he was appointed as a lecturer at the University of Hull, being fast-tracked to full professor in August 2011.<\/p><p>In February 2013, Prof. Watts moved to Nelson Mandela University to hold the distinguished position of \u2018SARChI Research Chair in Microfluidic Bio\/Chemical Processing\u2019 and has a B1 NRF research rating.\u00a0 In total Prof. Watts has published over 140 highly cited papers in peer reviewed journals.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-e250a74 e-flex e-con-boxed wpr-particle-no wpr-jarallax-no wpr-parallax-no wpr-sticky-section-no e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"e250a74\" data-element_type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-bb4d1dd e-con-full e-flex wpr-particle-no wpr-jarallax-no wpr-parallax-no wpr-sticky-section-no e-con e-child\" data-id=\"bb4d1dd\" data-element_type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-f713dc0 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"f713dc0\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Prof. Vinesh Maharaj<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-aeb6e03 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"aeb6e03\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h5 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\"><b>University of Pretoria, South Africa<\/b><\/h5>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-b09ac9d elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"b09ac9d\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Prof. Vinesh Maharaj is the director of the Biodiscovery Centre and the Deputy Dean of Research and Post Graduate Education, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, University of Pretoria. Prof. Maharaj is a natural product chemist and is trained in the discovery and development of new drug leads based on biodiversity samples. His is currently creating a unique repository of natural products comprising 10 000 plant samples which forms the basis for the natural product library, the first of its kind in Africa. The samples are converted into high throughput screening formats of several thousand semi pure compounds and subsets have been biologically tested against various diseases such as HIV, malaria, cancer, antimicrobials, Epstein Barr virus, neurological and metabolic diseases and COVID-19. \u00a0He obtained funding from the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI) to establish this platform to makes these resources available to the national system of innovation. The infrastructure includes high-end hyphenated analytical equipment for the chemical characterisation of the library. More recently AI and machine learning approaches towards drug discovery using the library are being investigated<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3258d6f e-con-full e-flex wpr-particle-no wpr-jarallax-no wpr-parallax-no wpr-sticky-section-no e-con e-child\" data-id=\"3258d6f\" data-element_type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-d0f9534 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"d0f9534\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/saci.co.za\/FW2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/elementor\/thumbs\/prof-vinesh-maharaj-scaled-rbui2zru7litmel5n33zl9qecl8e7ayzkzesp30lgg.jpg\" title=\"prof-vinesh-maharaj\" alt=\"prof-vinesh-maharaj\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-b7aed0f e-flex e-con-boxed wpr-particle-no wpr-jarallax-no wpr-parallax-no wpr-sticky-section-no e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"b7aed0f\" data-element_type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-d1d4ff2 e-con-full e-flex wpr-particle-no wpr-jarallax-no wpr-parallax-no wpr-sticky-section-no e-con e-child\" data-id=\"d1d4ff2\" data-element_type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-9bf2b3f elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"9bf2b3f\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Prof. Jan Rijn Zeevaart<span style=\"font-size:12.0pt;,serif\"> <\/span><\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-0debf28 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"0debf28\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h5 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\"><b>South African Nuclear Energy Corporation, South Africa<\/b><\/h5>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cef71eb elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"cef71eb\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Prof. Zeevaart received his PhD from the Techniese Universiteit Delft in the Netherlands in 2001. In 2002, he was appointed as head of the Radiochemistry group at Necsa. He is a NRF rated researcher since 2009 with a current rating of B2. He is the co-author of ~100 international publications, &gt;150 conference contributions and credited with 6 patents. He is frequently invited as a keynote and plenary speaker at international conferences.<\/p><p>Prof. Zeevaart leads the Radiochemistry department at Necsa and during his tenure, he developed the isotope production processes that now reside with NTP Radioisotopes SOC. Most notably, he developed the fission I-131production for the Necsa group. These commercialisation efforts earn South Africa considerable foreign revenue. His research disciplines are radiochemicals &amp; radiopharmaceutical chemistry and he has a keen interest in exploiting these disciplines in designing new radiopharmaceuticals. He also functions as the NTeMBI (Nuclear Technologies in Medicine and Biosciences Initiative) coordinator and was the NuMeRI (Nuclear Medicine Research Infrastructure) champion from 2016-2020, establishing the 3 nodes while the full research infrastructure at Steve Biko Academic Hospital was designed. Both are national initiatives of the South African Department of Science and Innovation and intend to design new radiopharmaceuticals and make radiolabelled versions of potential pharmaceuticals available for imaging of these drug entities. Several infection imaging radiopharmaceuticals now form part of the suite of radiotracers available clinically as developed together with Prof. Mike Sathekge from the Steve Biko Academic Hospital \/ University of Pretoria, Nuclear Medicine dept. \u00a0<\/p><p>Prof. Zeevaart was the recipient of the 2007 South African Chemical Institute\u2019s Raikes Medal and part of the international team awarded the Marie Curie award by the European Association of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging in 2018. In March 2019, he received the Top Intellectual Creator Award from the Department of Science and Technology. In 2024, he was admitted to the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf).<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4d58011 e-con-full e-flex wpr-particle-no wpr-jarallax-no wpr-parallax-no wpr-sticky-section-no e-con e-child\" data-id=\"4d58011\" data-element_type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-b9ff1c7 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"b9ff1c7\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"547\" height=\"480\" src=\"https:\/\/saci.co.za\/FW2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Prof-JR-Zeevart.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-4188\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/saci.co.za\/FW2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Prof-JR-Zeevart.jpg 547w, https:\/\/saci.co.za\/FW2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Prof-JR-Zeevart-300x263.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 547px) 100vw, 547px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-38f7c78 e-flex e-con-boxed wpr-particle-no wpr-jarallax-no wpr-parallax-no wpr-sticky-section-no e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"38f7c78\" data-element_type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-d32f558 e-con-full e-flex wpr-particle-no wpr-jarallax-no wpr-parallax-no wpr-sticky-section-no e-con e-child\" data-id=\"d32f558\" data-element_type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Keynote Speakers Prof. Edith M Antunes University of the Western Cape, South Africa Prof. Edith M. Antunes (Beukes) is an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of the Western Cape, South Africa. With a PhD in Chemistry from Rhodes University, Prof. Antunes focused on natural products chemistry, green nanomaterials synthesis, and advanced NMR spectroscopy. Her research bridges marine and terrestrial natural product discovery, bioactive compound isolation, solid-state and solution NMR, and the sustainable synthesis and characterization of functional nanomaterials. She has made contributions to developing eco-friendly techniques for synthesizing nanomaterials and exploring their applications as catalysts and bioactive agents, closely aligning with global sustainability goals. Prof. Antunes&#8217; achievements include over 100 peer-reviewed publications, several book chapters, and invitations to speak at national and international conferences. She is committed to capacity building through the supervision of numerous MSc and PhD students and serves as a member of organizations such as the American Society of Pharmacognosy and the South African Chemical Institute. Prof. Winston Nxumalo University of Limpopo, South Africa Prof. Winston Nxumalo obtained his PhD from the University of the Witwatersrand in 2011. He did his post-doc at GSK (Spain) and iThemba Pharmaceuticals from March 2011 until April 2012, working on developing new drugs to treat TB. He joined the University of Limpopo as a senior lecturer in May 2012, and became Professor of Chemistry in 2021. Prof. Nxumalo\u2019s research interests are in medicinal chemistry, focusing on synthesis of heterocyclic compounds and isolation of bioactive compounds from medicinal plants which are tested for activity against various diseases such as TB, malaria and cancer. His research also focusses on Continuous Flow Technology in the synthesis of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API). Winston is a leader of the UL-MEDCHEM research group and a full member of the Grand Challenge African Drug Discovery Accelerator (GC ADDA) network. Prof. Tricia Naicker University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa Professor Tricia Naicker\u00a0received her M.Sc. (cum laude) in Chemistry in 2008 and Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Chemistry in 2011 from the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN). She subsequently undertook an Oppenheimer-funded postdoctoral fellowship in asymmetric catalysis under the mentorship of\u00a0Professor KA J\u00f8rgensen, a globally recognized leader in the field, at Aarhus University, Denmark. Since 2013, she has led independent research at the\u00a0Catalysis and Peptide Research Unit (CPRU)\u00a0at UKZN. A highly published scientist with peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, and a patent, her research is centred on the organic synthesis of biologically relevant intermediates, with a focus on antibacterial agents. Her work is embedded within a multidisciplinary team at the\u00a0CPRU, fostering collaborations across synthetic chemistry, microbiology, analytical chemistry, and computational modelling. She has successfully mentored numerous postgraduate students and remains deeply engaged in science outreach and capacity development. Professor Naicker has been inaugurated into national (SAYAS, OWSD) and international (AAS) scientific academies and has served on the executive committees of these prestigious bodies. Her scientific excellence has been recognised through several awards, including the Taylor &amp; Francis\u2013John C. Warner Prize, the DST Women in Science Award, and the SACI Raikes Medal. She currently serves as Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the\u00a0South African Journal of Chemistry. Prof. Paul Watts Nelson Mandela University, South Africa Prof. Paul Watts graduated from the University of Bristol (UK) in 1995 with a first class BSc (Hons) degree in chemistry. He continued his studies at Bristol, obtaining a PhD in bio-organic natural product chemistry in 1999. Paul subsequently worked as a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Hull, where he pioneered organic synthesis in micro reactors. In February 2002, he was appointed as a lecturer at the University of Hull, being fast-tracked to full professor in August 2011. In February 2013, Prof. Watts moved to Nelson Mandela University to hold the distinguished position of \u2018SARChI Research Chair in Microfluidic Bio\/Chemical Processing\u2019 and has a B1 NRF research rating.\u00a0 In total Prof. Watts has published over 140 highly cited papers in peer reviewed journals. Prof. Vinesh Maharaj University of Pretoria, South Africa Prof. Vinesh Maharaj is the director of the Biodiscovery Centre and the Deputy Dean of Research and Post Graduate Education, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, University of Pretoria. Prof. Maharaj is a natural product chemist and is trained in the discovery and development of new drug leads based on biodiversity samples. His is currently creating a unique repository of natural products comprising 10 000 plant samples which forms the basis for the natural product library, the first of its kind in Africa. The samples are converted into high throughput screening formats of several thousand semi pure compounds and subsets have been biologically tested against various diseases such as HIV, malaria, cancer, antimicrobials, Epstein Barr virus, neurological and metabolic diseases and COVID-19. \u00a0He obtained funding from the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI) to establish this platform to makes these resources available to the national system of innovation. The infrastructure includes high-end hyphenated analytical equipment for the chemical characterisation of the library. More recently AI and machine learning approaches towards drug discovery using the library are being investigated Prof. Jan Rijn Zeevaart South African Nuclear Energy Corporation, South Africa Prof. Zeevaart received his PhD from the Techniese Universiteit Delft in the Netherlands in 2001. In 2002, he was appointed as head of the Radiochemistry group at Necsa. He is a NRF rated researcher since 2009 with a current rating of B2. He is the co-author of ~100 international publications, &gt;150 conference contributions and credited with 6 patents. He is frequently invited as a keynote and plenary speaker at international conferences. Prof. Zeevaart leads the Radiochemistry department at Necsa and during his tenure, he developed the isotope production processes that now reside with NTP Radioisotopes SOC. Most notably, he developed the fission I-131production for the Necsa group. These commercialisation efforts earn South Africa considerable foreign revenue. His research disciplines are radiochemicals &amp; radiopharmaceutical chemistry and he has a keen interest in exploiting these disciplines in designing new radiopharmaceuticals. He also functions as the NTeMBI (Nuclear Technologies in Medicine and Biosciences Initiative) coordinator and was the NuMeRI<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"no-sidebar","site-content-layout":"page-builder","ast-site-content-layout":"full-width-container","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"disabled","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"disabled","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"disabled","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-779","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/saci.co.za\/FW2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/779","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/saci.co.za\/FW2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/saci.co.za\/FW2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saci.co.za\/FW2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saci.co.za\/FW2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=779"}],"version-history":[{"count":117,"href":"https:\/\/saci.co.za\/FW2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/779\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4368,"href":"https:\/\/saci.co.za\/FW2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/779\/revisions\/4368"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/saci.co.za\/FW2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}