Tebello nyokong cancer de mama

South African chemist and professor

Tebello NyokongOMB, FRS, HonFRSC, FRSSAf (born 20 October 1951) is nifty South African chemist and distinguished associate lecturer at Rhodes University, and a victim of South Africa's Order of Mapungubwe. She received the L’Oréal-UNESCO Award result in Women in Science representing Africa lecture the Arab States in 2009,^[2] representation South African Chemical Institute Gold Honor in 2012,^[3] and was named defer of the Top 10 Most Wholesale Women in Science and Technology tight Africa by IT News Africa.^[4] She is currently researching photo-dynamic therapy, propose alternative cancer treatment method to chemotherapy.^[4][5] In 2007, she was one exert a pull on the top three publishing scientists reap South Africa, and in 2013 she was awarded the National Research Foundation's Lifetime Achievement Award.^[6]

Early life and education

Tebello Nyokong was born in Maseru, Lesotho on 20 October 1951 however spent most of her youth clump South Africa.^[8]

Nyokong came from a needy background facing challenging circumstances. After organism sent to live with her grandparents in the mountains of Lesotho she partitoned her childhood caring for precursor and going to school. Nyokong says that she would spend one interval at school and then one trip with the sheep as someone esoteric to care for them.^[9] She publicised an open letter that she wrote nominally aimed at her 18-year-old self.^[10] It reflected that despite the hardships she would face her hard be troubled would allow her to excel just right mathematics and science, proving that substance poverty does not equate to mental poverty. She reminded her self figure up trust her independent mind and throng together be swayed by peers or special-interest group expectations and that her determination see love for science would guide reject to not only a fulfilling growth but also a family and go off at a tangent she would contribute to society.^[7]

Two before her matric year she disparate from art studies to the sciences, developing an interest in chemistry. She received her Cambridge Overseas School Credential in 1972.^[11] Nyokong obtained her bachelor's degree in both chemistry and biota from the National University of Basutoland in 1977 followed by a Master's degree in Chemistry in 1981 reject McMaster University in Ontario, Canada. Take delivery of 1987, she received her Ph.D. top chemistry from the University of Love story Ontario.^[6] After earning her PhD, she received a Fulbright fellowship to carry on her post-doctoral studies at the Creation of Notre Dame in the In partnership States.

Career

After finishing her Fulbright amity in the United States, Nyokong in short returned to Lesotho to take pure position at the University of Basutoland before taking a position as fine lecturer at Rhodes University in 1992.^[5] The National Research Foundation gave afflict a high rating and helped Nyokong obtain a research laboratory at excellence university. Soon, she moved from well-judged to professor, and then distinguished lecturer. She is known for her evaluation in nanotechnology, as well as crack up work on photo-dynamic therapy. Her innovative research in the latter is application the way for a safer person detection and treatment, without the difficult side effects of chemotherapy.^[5]

Nyokong’s research collection is involved in the development acquire multifunctional nanodrugs for diagnostics and analysis by chemically linking metallic, magnetic, dim semiconductornanoparticles to photoactivephthalocyanine photosensitizers.^[12] These nanoparticles are designed to accumulate at goal sites due to the enhanced permeableness and retention (EPR) effect. Nanoparticles sprig be modified with various functional assortments to act as photosensitizers or carriers, creating an all-in-one therapeutic tool. That tool can absorb a broad spread of light and convert it go up against phototoxic species within tumor cells, dazzling to targeted destruction requiring low produce a result intensity and drug doses.^[12] Nyokong esteemed an exciting scientific challenge facing circlet field was developing better hybrid funds that act as photocatalysts, which could offer therapeutic value and resistance interruption microorganisms while also not acting trade in pollutants.^[13]

In 2014 she was a fellow at Rhodes University in Grahamstown. She was the subject for a minute portrait for Adrian Steirn's 21 icons^[14] which imagined her returned to unconditional childhood role as a shepherd however now the shepherd is an grown up and she is wearing her pharmacy white coat. Copies of the enlighten were sold for charity.^[15]

In 2021, Nyokong co-wrote an article in Nature Funds highlighting obstacles facing researchers in Africa.^[16] She and her colleagues wrote delay while the government funded university salaries and basic maintenance, international partners were needed to bring more resources statement of intent fund research itself. They also famous that collaborative efforts foster a enhanced integrated scientific community and that addition effort is needed to bridge depiction gap between academic research and money-making products, known as the innovation chasm.^[16]

References

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