CARDIOVASCULAR JOURNAL OF AFRICA • Vol 23, No 10, November 2012
572
AFRICA
Meeting Report
2
nd South Africa–United Kingdom cardiovascular workshop
Highlighting cardiovascular research in South Africa
It has been predicted that by the year
2030,
the prevalence of death from
cardiovascular disease (CVD) will have
increased significantly.
1
The perception
that CVD is not relevant to developing
countries needs to be redressed. In fact,
South Africa (SA) is undergoing a more
rapid increase in the prevalence of CVD
than the developed countries, mainly
due to urbanisation and the threatening
increase in incidence of obesity and
diabetes.
2
Therefore there is a need for
cutting-edge research with the potential to
produce better therapies for the treatment
of CVD in Africa.
To facilitate this cutting-edge research,
it is imperative that we create a skills base
capable of producing such research. The
UK–SA workshops are events that we
feel facilitate this process by establishing
north–south collaboration, enticing
promising young cardiovascular scientists
to South Africa, and introducing our own
students to a large network of scientists
and opportunities for development.
The second UK–SA cardiovascular
research workshop was held in Cape
Town, South Africa in August 2012. The
workshop was hosted by the SouthAfrican
Society for Cardiovascular Research
(
SASCAR), a special-interest group of
the South African Heart Association, at
the Chris Barnard building, University of
Cape Town (UCT). The main organisers
of this event were Prof Sandrine Lecour,
head of the cardioprotection group at
the Hatter Institute for Cardiovascular
Research in Africa, UCT, and Dr Derek
Hausenloy, British Heart Foundation
senior clinical research fellow at the Hatter
Institute, University College London.
The purpose of this joint UK–SA
cardiovascular research workshop was
to highlight the work of our young
clinical and basic science researchers
and to promote fruitful cardiovascular
research collaborations between the UK
and South Africa through the auspices
of the European Society of Cardiology
(
ESC), the University of Cape Town and
the SASCAR. The main research themes
of the workshop represented the major
overlapping research interests in the UK
and South Africa, and included novel
cardioprotective therapeutic approaches,
cardiomyopathies, cardiovascular risk
factors, clinical cardiovascular research,
signalling pathways in cardioprotection
and myocardial ischaemia–reperfusion
injury. There were also presentations on
problems more relevant locally, such as
rheumatic heart disease, myocarditis in
HIV-associated cardiomyopathies, and the
effects of antiretroviral therapy on cardiac
contractile function.
The workshop had over 65 delegates,
including invited faculties from Europe,
the USA and South Africa, five invited
and sponsored cardiovascular research
PhD students from academic institutions
in Europe, and approximately 50 South
African cardiovascular researchers and
students. At the beginning of the week,
the five invited European students had
the opportunity to visit and spend time
in research laboratories in South Africa.
The workshop took place on a Thursday
and Friday and each of the European
and South African students had the
opportunity to present their work.
The SA–UK workshop targets clinical
and basic science PhD students in their
later years of study. This is a critical
time when students are trying to decide
what they will do after completing their
PhD. Unfortunately some very good
scientists leave cardiovascular research
after obtaining a PhD because they do not
see any opportunities available to them.
The SA–UK workshop introduces them
to a network of potential national and
international postdoctoral supervisors.
Some may suggest that introducing
students to opportunities abroad may
contribute to the so-called ‘brain drain’.
However, it has recently been suggested
that this brain drain can be turned into
a ‘brain gain’. According to Meyer
and Brown,
3
‘
There are two ways to
implement the brain gain: either through
the return of the expatriates to the country
of origin (return option) or through their
remote mobilisation and association to its
development (diaspora option)’.
Postdoctoral experience abroad may
introduce students to new ideas and
techniques not available in South Africa.
When these young researchers return,
they bring some of these new techniques
and ideas with them. Likewise, foreign
students coming to South Africa for
a postdoctoral position often bring
new skills and ideas to South African
laboratories.
Although the main aim of the workshop
was to foster international collaboration,
PhD students were also exposed to local
opportunities. This was mainly through
networking with local scientists at the
workshop dinner. They also had the
opportunity to listen to plenary talks by
some of the most successful upcoming
local researchers from the University of
Cape Town (Prof Edward Sturrock, Dr
Gasnat Shaboodien, Dr Liezl Zuhkl and
Prof Sandrine Lecour), the University
of Stellenbosch (Prof Faadiel Essop and
Prof Hans Strijdom), and the University
of KwaZulu-Natal (Prof Sajidah Khan).
Based on their presentations, there
was a prize for the best South African
and European PhD students. Ms
Kathleen Reyskens from the University
of Stellenbosch won the South African
prize for her work on the effects of
antiretroviral treatment on the heart. Ms
Uma Mukherjee from the Hatter Institute
at University College London won
the European prize for her work on a
molecule called DJ-1.
The student presentations were
accompanied by plenary lectures from
experts in cardiovascular research, and
an ESC nucleus meeting of the working
group in cellular biology of the heart,
titled Frontiers in Cardioprotection,
formed part of the programme. Finally,
the meeting was concluded with a
presentation by Prof Lionel Opie on how
to become a successful researcher.
