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Meet multiple award-winning scientist, Professor Tebello Nyokong
Through the years, Prof. Nyokong has dedicated herself at local and international level – not only to advancing the frontiers of scientific research – but also to serving as a supreme role model for women and previously disadvantaged individuals in science. Prof. Nyokong is widely regarded as a continental icon. She exudes a passion for science – doing science, teaching science, promoting science, financing science, applying science, and contributing to national and international policy and strategy to foster and grow scientific research in developing countries. Her international profile has contributed largely to enhancing the reputation of South African and African science. She has undertaken formal international collaborations with counterparts in a number of countries, and has been awarded a prestigious Adjunct Professorship by the University of Tromsø in Norway. Many international scientists have been drawn to South Africa by her work and her laboratory at Rhodes University, where she has hosted numerous postdoctoral candidates from around the world. Prof. Nyokong is passionate about passing on knowledge. She invests a huge amount of time and energy into bringing previously disadvantaged students, particularly women, into the scientific mainstream. She has supervised a total of 73 master's, doctoral and postdoctoral students; and is currently supervising another 25. An impressively high number of her MSc students have achieved distinctions. “I want to see Africa, and South Africa in particular, become less dependent on the West and find solutions to our own problems through science. By teaching and supervising doctoral students, I am contributing to the science knowledge pool of our country,” she says. Prof. Nyokong is determined to show off South Africa’s excellence. “I am driven by being an African, completely,” she says. “I’m passionate to see us succeed.” GetSETgo spoke to Professor Nyokong about her passion for research, teaching and mentoring, her future plans and the things in life that excite her most. You are always so passionate and enthusiastic about your work. Please tell us what it entails. My main medicinal research is called photodynamic therapy (PDT) of cancer. It is intended as an alternative to chemotherapy. The new therapy is based on using the blue dye used to colour blue denim clothing, which is inert and harmless by itself, but can be activated by exposure to a red laser beam. In this treatment, the drugs are administered to a patient from three to 96 hours prior to administration of laser light. Over time, the compounds build up in the cancerous tissues. Clinicians then shine a strong, red laser light on the diseased areas, which causes a chemical reaction to occur between the drugs and oxygen molecules in the cancer tissues. Toxic oxygen is generated, which then destroys the tumor cells. As chemists, we are designers. My research deals with the development of drugs from dyes called phthalocyanines. We call them dyes because their molecules are similar to those of dyes you use to colour jeans (blue). As a chemist, I am at the centre of this work because I am the one who makes the molecules. I have a big team of about 30 people, plus others in South Africa, China, Germany and Switzerland who are doing the preclinical testing on some of my drugs in their own laboratories. Your colleagues and students (past and present) speak very highly of you. Dr Albert van Jaarsveld, CEO of the NRF has said: "If anyone has had the privilege of having known and worked with Prof. Nyokong, as I have, they will know that she is a passionate and tireless researcher and mentor.” Can you tell us a bit more about your mentoring role in particular? My students are more important to me than anything else. I want them to succeed – which is why I’m very tough on my students. This is not formal mentoring. It is leading by example. I am disciplined and work hard and I want my students to be the same. We work hard together but we also play hard together. You have been the recipient of many awards. What does your latest award – the NRF Lifetime Achiever Award - mean to you personally? It is the culmination of years of hard work and I appreciate it. I need to state that this is only the first lifetime, I have a few more coming! Where did you grow up? I was born and grew up in Maseru, Lesotho (she was inducted into that country’s Hall of Fame in 2010). As a child I had to wear second-hand clothes and often walked barefoot to school in winter. But I got the top marks in mathematics and science. I grew up herding sheep and helping my father with his construction business, which meant that I had to go to school on alternate days and had to do many jobs which boys normally do, but all this was good for me. It taught me discipline and not to shy away from hard work. My father, who taught me that only hard work pays, was my first role model. He inspired me never to give up once I have set a goal in life. My teachers at high school, especially my science teacher who made the subject come to life, have also been a great inspiration. What did you study after school? Where and why? I obtained my BSc in Chemistry and Biology, as well as a concurrent Certificate in Education from the University of Lesotho in 1977. With funding from the Canadian International Development Agency, I was able to complete my master's degree at McMaster University and my PhD in Chemistry at the University of Western Ontario in Canada, where I also worked as a Teaching Assistant. What are your future plans? I would like to develop my research into a marketable product. What is your favourite dish? I like fish in any form. What excites you most about life? Seeing my students succeed. I also place great emphasis on encouraging my students to see chemistry and science in everything around them, and to continuously work at making science accessible to the layman. I always tell my students, when they talk to the public they must speak English, not science. I encourage them to have a simple love for their subject and to make that real. I also believe in encouraging my students to think independently, and to become employers rather than employees. I’m inspired by a simple love of nature and my rural childhood surroundings. Being a scientist means being in touch with your environment, having an inquisitive mind and asking questions about how things work. I have always liked nature, which may have come from my shepherd days. I like to see plants grow and I love to listen to birds and identify them. I still like to ask deep questions about the environment. I am passionate about South Africa and Africa: Some of the top science in the world is done in South Africa. We are very fortunate to have a system which encourages scientific research and development. No country can have a lasting economic growth or development without a solid science base. Concentrating on poverty, housing, etc without developing a science base will not lead to growth. South Africa is actually experiencing a brain gain due to its strong science base. We could do with more scientists. More learners should consider science and maths in high school — it will open doors for them. Also science is thought to be hard. NO!!! It is also true that we need more well trained science teachers. I urge all young people in the country to study to the highest possible level of doctor of philosophy (PhD). The development of South Africa will depend on its highly skilled labour. What about studying for the sake of having knowledge? I have had a number of people writing to me regretting the fact that they were in hurry to make money. Now they wish they had studied further. It is hard work to study, but hard work is FUN. I really wish we did not judge our schools based solely on pass rate. They should be judged on their abilities in maths and science. What are your favourite pastimes? Gardening and walking. Do you have a special motto that you live according to? Hard work, discipline and have a sense of humour. I laugh a lot. Read Tebello Nyokong’s letter to her 18-year-old Self (March 8, 2011) Additional references: “A passion for science, a thirst for knowledge”. Sunday Times, September 15 2013, page 16 “Prof. Tebello Nyokong receives the NRF Lifetime Achievement”, DST Newsletter: Science & Technology, September/October 2013, Page 7 |
