Monash South Africa signs agreement with the SA Medical Research Council and UNISA

4 June 2009

At the signing of the agreement in Cape Town: From the left: Prof Anthony Mbewu, President of the Medical Research Council;  Prof Richard Larkins, Vice Chancellor of Monash University and Prof Mandla Makhanya, Pro Vice-Chancellor, UNISA.

A new agreement has been signed between Monash South Africa, the South African Medical Research Council (MRC) and the University of South Africa (UNISA), to establish a collaborative research partnership in the areas of health promotion and injury prevention, particularly in the areas of child health and road safety.

The memorandum of understanding, signed in Cape Town on Wednesday, 3 June 2009, is the first between the MRC and Monash and extends an existing strong relationship with UNISA into health and injury prevention research.

This agreement brings together the research of the MRC, the MRC-UNISA Crime Violence and Injury Lead Programme and the Monash University Accident Research Centre (MUARC) through its Injury Prevention and Safety Promotion research node based at Monash South Africa in Johannesburg.

Prof Dina Burger, Deputy Pro Vice-Chancellor, Research, at Monash South Africa says: “The agreement will promote a number of new collaborative opportunities ranging from staff exchange, to research opportunities for students and an active research partnership in the areas of road safety, child health, acute care and trauma and community engagement”.

A priority will be to implement a community-based health intervention study focussing on child health and injury prevention as well as caregiver education in these areas. This multi-level study will be conducted in selected communities spanning a number of countries in sub-Saharan Africa, Malaysia and Australia.

Professor Richard Larkins, Vice-Chancellor of Monash University, said: “The agreement represents a great step forward in the expansion and development of public health research and community engagement and provides an opportunity for Monash to work more closely with key South African medical research organisations.”

"Like the MRC and UNISA, Monash has always had a strong commitment to high-quality public health research and particularly that research which makes a fundamental difference to the well-being of individuals and communities," says Prof Tyrone Pretorius Pro Vice-Chancellor of Monash South Africa.

“The combined expertise of the MRC, the MRC-UNISA Crime, Violence and Injury Lead Programme and MUARC (through the Injury Prevention and Safety Promotion Research Node at the South African campus), provides an opportunity to conduct high-quality public health research, as well as a vehicle to tackle critical development areas on the African continent.”

Professor Anthony Mbewu, President of the MRC, said: “This formal partnership recognises the importance and opportunity afforded by shared research expertise for the mutual benefit citizens and provides an opportunity for the South African medical community to engage internationally with a high-profile and well-respected institution”.

Prof Barney Pityana, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of UNISA, said: “The memorandum solidifies an existing strong collaborative relationship between the institutions, and the strategic partnership with Monash South Africa in the critical public health arena represents an exciting new era for both organisations.