UCT researcher to attend HOPE Meeting

Dr Reshma Kassanjee of the University of Cape Town (UCT) School of Public Health and Family Medicine is one of two South African researchers who will travel to Tokyo, Japan, during March 2020 to attend the 12th HOPE Meeting.

Organised by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science since 2008, HOPE Meetings allow excellent doctoral and young researchers from the Asia-Pacific and Africa regions to participate in interdisciplinary discussions with Nobel laureates and other distinguished scientists.

“The meeting will provide an opportunity to engage with like-minded peers with diverse backgrounds, experiences and research areas, also in their early research careers and finding their way in the world of science,” says Kassanjee.

“It will also be an honour to learn from scientists who have reached the highest levels of achievement and contribution to society.”

Kassanjee is a senior research officer at the UCT Centre for Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Research (CIDER) and a member of the International epidemiology Databases to Evaluate AIDS – Southern Africa consortium.

“I want to bring back to South Africa a more mature sense of how to navigate the path of scientific discovery, in terms of both the scientific agenda and my personal journey.”

Her research to date has centred on methods for estimating the rate of new HIV infections, and she is currently focusing on using observational data from HIV cohorts to inform global policy and decision-making. As part of her work, Kassanjee also models the dynamics of disease transmission to better understand epidemics and design interventions.

She aims to use – and develop new – statistical and computational mathematics techniques as part of her research – to address urgent questions in public health.  

The HOPE Meetings

The 12th HOPE Meeting will be held from 9 to 13 March 2020. Some 100 doctoral students and young researchers from 22 countries, including Australia, Bangladesh, China and Egypt, will attend.

“I want to bring back to South Africa a more mature sense of how to navigate the path of scientific discovery, in terms of both the scientific agenda and my personal journey,” says Kassanjee, “and share this growth when supporting other younger researchers.”

The South African National Research Foundation, in partnership with the Department of Science and Innovation and the Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science, nominated Kassanjee and Dr Eleanor Ochodo from Stellenbosch University to attend.