The Advancing Research Ethics in Southern Africa (ARESA) Bioethics Leadership Program is proud to announce its latest graduates.
Tiwonge Mtande is currently a Research Ethics Committee Analyst at the Kamuzu University of Health Sciences (KUHeS). Her dissertation focuses on ethical issues related to cluster randomized trials conducted in Malawi.
Her supervisors were Stuart Rennie (UNC-Chapel Hill) and Carl Lombard (Stellenbosch University).
“The ARESA leadership program was truly unique,” Mtande said of her experience.
She added, “It fostered a positive and supportive work environment that encouraged personal and professional growth. The mentorship and supervision were exceptional, helping to build my confidence. Through attending international conferences and seminars, I gained valuable insights into real-world issues and how to effectively navigate them. I also participated in conceptual group discussions, where I had the opportunity to observe how novel ideas were generated to address ethical challenges. I feel fortunate and grateful to have been part of the ARESA program.”
Theresa Burgess is Associate Professor in the Department of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of Cape Town. She holds a Master’s in Health Science (Bioethics) from the University of Toronto. Her dissertation is ‘Ethical issues in public health emergency research in South Africa: The case of COVID-19’.
Her supervisors were Keymanthri Moodley (Stellenbosch University) and Stuart Rennie (UNC-Chapel Hill).
Mtande and Burgess will receive their Ph.D.s on December 12 in Stellenbosch, South Africa.
About ARESA
ARESA is an NIH-funded (Fogarty International Center) bioethics Ph.D. program.
The program, a collaboration between the Division of Medical Ethics and Law at Stellenbosch University and the UNC Center for Bioethics, started in 2017. Since then, the program has had five Ph.D. graduates from across Africa. One is from Uganda, two are from Malawi and two are from South Africa.
Two current ARESA students are working on their dissertations. They are from Zambia and South Africa.
The program’s first Ph.D. graduate, Shenuka Singh, was the first African to earn a Ph.D. in bioethics from an African institution.
ARESA annual seminar
For the last 12 years the Division of Medical Ethics and Law at Stellenbosch University and the UNC Center for Bioethics collaboratively host the annual ARESA seminar in Cape Town.
The hosts invite people engaged in the broad research ethics community in southern Africa. Invitees include past students from Stellenbosch/UNC bioethics education initiatives. This year, the seminar themes were data literacy and neuroethics.
Stuart Rennie defines neuroethics as being “about ethical issues that arise from technologies used in treatments or research on the brain. Like brain implants, brain stimulation techniques or the therapeutic use of psychedelics.”
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