2018 Dr Sylvia Meek Scholarship for Entomology recipient wins award for best poster at the Southern African Malaria Research Conference

Ms Makhanthisa (right) with her award

Takalani Makhanthisa, a recipient of Malaria Consortium’s Dr Sylvia Meek Scholarship for Entomology in 2018, has won the award for best poster at the 4th Southern African Malaria Research Conference held at the National Institute for Communicable Diseases in Johannesburg. Her poster, titled: Effectiveness of selected cattle-administered endectocides to reduce malaria-vector mosquitoes, was chosen as the winner out of 38 posters.

"I am really grateful to have received this award. I would like to thank Malaria Consortium for sponsoring me for my MSc studies, the University of Pretoria Institute for Sustainable Malaria Control (UP ISMC) as well as my supervisors for all the support," said Ms Makhanthisa.

Ms Makhanthisa is the first South African student to receive the Dr Sylvia Meek Scholarship for Entomology. The scholarship was set up in memory of Dr Meek, Malaria Consortium’s co-founder and former Technical Director who passed away in 2016, with the intention of empowering a new generation of public health entomologists and malaria staff in Africa and Asia.

Malaria Consortium partnered with The University of Pretoria, South Africa to support one scholarship student for a two-year master’s degree in Science in Entomology. The recipient is based at the university’s Department of Zoology and Entomology, and supervised by the department’s academic staff. Ms Makhanthisa’s MSc project shares the same title as her winning poster.

For more information about our other Dr Sylvia Meek Scholarships in Africa and Asia, click here.