2015 SR and ES Report BME A5

Division of Biomedical Engineering Annual Report on Social Responsiveness and Engaged Scholarship 2014 - 2015“Our Mission is to be an outstanding teaching and research university, educating for life and addressing the challenges facing our society.”

Section One - OutreachWork ShadowingThe Division of Biomedical Engineering hosted grade-11 learners from various schoolsincluding SACS, Wynberg High, Reddam House, and Herzlia School for work shadowingthroughout the year. Work shadowing programmes ran over one to three days andinvolved the engagement with staff and students in all research groups of the Division ofBiomedical Engineering but also involved experiences at CUBIC-UCT and the Divisionof Exercise Science and Sports Medicine.Participation in the Department of Human Biology Learnership ProgramThrough Dr Sudesh Sivarasu and A/Prof Thomas Franz along with postdoctoralresearchers and postgraduate students from their research groups, the Division ofBiomedical Engineering, participated in Department of Human Biology LearnershipProgram for learners from Curro Schools in the Western Cape. The programme over oneday organised by the Division of Exercise Science and Sports Medicine and hosted 60learners (14-15 years; grade 8/9) on 7 October 2015 at the Sports Science Institute ofSouth Africa. Dr Sivarasu and his group showcased innovative research in medicaldevices and orthopaedic biomechanics. The group of A/Prof Franz demonstratedcomputational modelling in bioengineering and therapies of cardiac diseases.Public and Social AwarenessDr Sudesh Sivarasu of the Division of Biomedical Engineering was one of five finalists inthe 2015 Philips Innovations Fellows competition. Following the formal announcementof the finalists, the concept solution of a passive mechanical ventilator was revealed topublic and media in a number related news articles in national and international media(http://www.innovationfellows.co.za/, 'Philips Reveals Innovation Fellows Finalists'http://ehealthnews.co.za/philips-innovation-finalists/). Public awareness through newsarticles and interviews. One such news article 'reScribe Reinventing Stroke Therapy'features reScribe, a UCT incubated company for stroke rehabilitation.2

Hosting of InternshipsThe Division of Biomedical Engineering hosted a number of national and internationalstudents for vacation and research internships. Dr Sivarasu’s Orthopaedic Biomechanicsand Medical Devices Lab hosted four undergraduate engineering students from theNelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Michigan State University and MassachusettsInstitute of Technology. Dr Malebogo Ngoepe, Dr Mazin Sirry and Kevin Sack from theMechanobiology Lab hosted one medical and two engineering students from the VrijeUniversiteit Brussels, Imperial College London and University of Southampton.3

Section Two - Engaged ScholarshipHealth Innovation and Design CourseDr Tinashe Mutsvangwa, Dr Nailah Conrad and Prof Tania Douglas from the Division ofBiomedical Engineering offered the “Health Innovation and Design” course in the Facultyof Health Sciences. The course underwent its pilot in 2015. In the course, we aim to usedesign thinking to address and innovate for health problems. In an effort to always applyrelevant and user-driven case studies, participants in the course worked with threecommunity groups throughout the year. Firstly, participants designed solutions forRehabilitation Care Workers (RCWs) who work at a community level to providemultidisciplinary rehabilitation therapy to patients in their homes and community. Oursolutions aimed at addressing their safety, accessibility and visibility while conductingthe community work. We then worked with ReAbled, an organisation formed to providepeer support for the disabled community in and around Cape Town. Here participantsdesigned for increasing that organisations visibility and also its ability to retain peersupport workers after training. Finally, we had Neighbourhood Old Age Home (NOAH)as a community partner and worked on assessing the needs of hearing-impaired seniorcitizens. \"Child Health in Sub-Saharan AfricaThe MRI Research Group of the Division of Biomedical Engineering continued with thelongitudinal neuroimaging follow-on study of the Children with HIV Early Antiretroviral(CHER) trial - research that aimed at understanding the effects of HIV infection and earlyantiretroviral therapy (ART) on children's brain development in the long term. This is aquestion that affects Sub-Saharan Africa in particular, given the large number of childrenthat are living with HIV.Together with the Child Development Research Unit, researchers in the Department ofHuman Biology continue to study the effects of prenatal alcohol and drug exposure onbrain development. Since incidence rates of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) in certaincommunities in South Africa are amongst the highest in the world, these studies addressa major local public health problem. As part of these studies, children and their4

mothers/caregivers receive counselling and referrals as needed. Children with anyabnormal pathology on MRI are also referred for a clinical scan.Cape Universities Body Imaging Centre at UCT (CUBIC-UCT)The Cape Universities Body Imaging Centre at UCT (CUBIC-UCT) was commissionedon 23 March 2015. Since its inception, CUBIC-UCT has been providing MagneticResonance scanning to two Groote Schuur Hospital (GSH) patients per day at no cost.The benefits of this service are two-fold: (i) to reduce the long waiting lists on the GSHscanner, which is about 4 months for outpatients, and (ii) to provide patients withcomplicated pathology with advanced scanning techniques and expertise in theseadvanced methodologies for improved treatment planning.5

Division of Biomedical Engineering Department of Human Biology Faculty of Health Sciences University of Cape Town Private Bag X3 Observatory 7935 South Africa Tel: +27 21 650 3093 E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.bme.uct.ac.za6