Reabetswe Pitere, a Midrand resident and master’s student at the University of Witwatersrand, was presented with a grant of R105 501 for her research work focusing on investigating known inherited breast cancer susceptibility genes in black women in South Africa.
The grant was given to her by AstraZeneca Research Trust, a global, innovation-driven biopharmaceutical business that focuses on the discovery, development and commercialisation of prescription medicines. Pitere is one of seven recipients who received a total amount of R1.5 million for the year 2015/2016, bringing to 18 the total number of research grants given by the Trust locally.
Speaking to Midrand Reporter, Pitere who lives in Vorna Valley, explained how the grant would be used. “We will do a pilot study to try and identify mutations in different genes in South Africa’s black female population to see if it can be used in a diagnostic setting,” she said.
“The overall study is to advance our knowledge of how cancer genes contribute to inherited breast cancer in black women.”
In a statement, AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals vice president of Medical and Regulatory South Africa, Dr Jas Bhana said since the Trust’s inception in 2014, it had awarded R3 million to local research and high-level non-interventional studies including for doctorate and post-doctoral work. Bhana said, “We anticipate that our grants will help us meet a huge area of unmet need, ensuring the reprioritisation of healthcare initiatives and reshaping the landscape as we know it.
“Recognised as an innovative partnership to help build research capabilities, to date, 59 studies have been awarded funding, a figure that includes the local studies, as well as those being funded by the research trusts set up in Nigeria and Kenya.”
Bhana added that due to extensive investment into research on HIV infection and TB, there had been less investment and focus on non-communicable diseases. “Without current, accurate data, we have no line of sight to the extent of the problem, nor how to manage it.
“There is virtually no data on black females in even the most basic disease areas. We want to change this and be part of the data generation process, even if we cannot use it directly as a company, we want to be part of the solution.”
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