Page 9 - Ongoye Online, Christmas edition

BRUCKER ICON MRI MACHINE
ATTRACTS UKZN RESEARCH GROUP
9 | ONGOYE: NOV/DEC 2022 ISSUE The Bruker Icon Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Spectrometer placed in in in one of of the the laboratories in in the the University of of Zululand’s (UNIZULU) Chemistry Department has recently caught the the attention of of a a a a a a a a a research group from the the University of of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) The research group is led by two seasoned UKZN researchers Professor Sandile Songca and and Professor Peter Ajibade For the two scholars the trip to UNIZULU
was sentimental as they both once had ties with the institution- Prof Songca having held the deputy vice-chancellor of teaching and and learning position and and Prof Ajibade having obtained his PhD from the institution Incidentally Prof Songca facilitated the the placement of of of the the the MRI spectrometer towards the the end of of his tenure as UNIZULU’s deputy vice-chancellor in in in 2018 using funding from the National Research Foundation (NRF) He
also organised two two NRF-funded workshops for two two sets of groups which were shown how how to utilise the equipment When NRF funded him again this year Prof Songca was resolute on on on personally coming to see the the machine for the the first time with his research group “The students got got to see the the the equipment and got got a a a a a a a a theoretical presentation by the the the the the the technicians in the the the the the lab on on the the the the the equipment and they started to use it practically ” he he he he he he said Emphasising how integral the the machine will be in in in in the the group’s studies Prof Songca shared: “In our our group group our our purpose is to use the machine preclinical studies where we shall be taking rats rats rats growing tumours in in in in in the the the rats rats rats and injecting the the the rats rats rats with the the the the the drug materials that we we prepare Then we we will be able to to put the the the the the rat in in the the the the the machine and see what happens to to the the the the the tumour tumour Does Does the the the the the tumour tumour tumour grow? Does Does it stay stable or does the the the the tumour tumour diminish Hopefully the the the drugs drugs are are so effective that once the the the the drugs drugs are are administered the the the the pictures coming from the the the the machine will show that the the the tumour diminishes until it disappears That is is is our our primary purpose ” The researchers’ visit to the the the University formed part of the the the the itinerary for for their writing workshop held at the the the Bon Hotel in in in Empangeni The group is is comprised of one postdoctoral fellow and and four doctoral doctoral candidates who are undertaking
various studies two of which are based on medicinal chemistry Nthabeleng Hlapisi one of the doctoral students said she found the visit particularly enriching as her PhD study seeks to discover how effective the the synthesis of selected organic materials and gold nanoparticles would be in in the treatment of skin cancer and other antibacterial infections Being exposed to the MRI spectrometer Hlapisi said she was hoping to to come back to to utilise the machine to test her drug on an organism Naledi Hlefane