Our team
Groote Schuur Hospital
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Professor Graham Fieggen (Director)
Medical School
University of Cape Town
Postgraduate qualifications
- MSc (Neuroscience) University of London
- MD (Neurosurgery) University of Cape Town
- FCS (SA) (Neurosurgery)
Year of Registration
1997
Further training
- Paediatric Neurosurgery under the mentorship of Professor Jonathan C Peter at Red Cross Children’s Hospital
- Short-term visits to units in Munich, Paris and San Francisco
Areas of interest
- Paediatric Neurosurgery
- Functional Neurosurgery
- Global Surgery
- Education and Training in Surgery
- Neuroscience
Current positions
- Helen and Morris Mauerberger Professor and Head of Division University of Cape Town
- Head of Clinical Department, Neurosurgery Groote Schuur Hospital
- Paediatric Neurosurgeon Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital
- Director, UCT Neuroscience Institute University of CApe Town
- Head, Department of Surgery (2017-2021) University of Cape Town
- Patron, Student Surgical Society University of Cape Town
Professional affiliations
Leadership
- International Society for Pediatric Neurosurgery (President 2018, Annual Meeting Chairman 2008)
- World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies (2nd Vice President 2017-2019)
- Continental Association of African Neurosurgical Societies (President 2014-2016)
- Society of Neurosurgeons of South Africa (2018-2020)
- College of Neurosurgeons of South Africa (Councillor)
Membership
- American Association of Neurological Surgeons (iFAANS)
- American Academy of Neurological Surgeons (Corresponding member)
- World Academy of Neurological Surgeons (Member)
- European Society for Pediatric Neurosurgery (Teaching Faculty for Annual Course 2010-2012)
- World Society for Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery (Chairman of local organizing committee for 2011 Interim Meeting)
- Editorial Boards: Neurosurgery, The Guide (ISPN electronic textbook)
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Ms Vuyiwe Bathaka (Administrator)
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Associate Professor David Le Feuvre
Medical School
University of Cape Town
Postgraduate qualifications
- MMed (Neurosurgery) University of Cape TownMSc (Universities of Bicetre (Paris) and Mahidol (Chiang Mai))
- FCS Neurosurgery (SA)
Year of Registration
2003
Further training
- Neurointerventional training under the mentorship of Professor Pierre Lasjaunias, Paris, France and Professor Allan Taylor, Cape Town
Areas of interest
- Cerebrovascular surgeryNeuro-intervention
- Neuro-oncology: Skull Base surgery and glioma surgery
Current positions
- Consultant Neurosurgeon, Neurovascular Unit, Groote Schuur Hospital
- MBChB Convener, Division of Neurosurgery
Professional affiliations
- Society of Neurosurgeons of South AfricaSouth African Neurointervention Society
- World Federation of Therapeutic and Interventional Neuroradiology (Secretary, 9th Bienniel Meeting, 2011)
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Dr Ncedile Mankahla
Medical School
University of Kwazulu Natal
Postgraduate qualifications
- FC Neurosurg (SA) 2015
- Mmed (Neurosurg) UCT 2017
Areas of interest
- Neurooncology
- Skull Base Surgery
- Spine Oncology and Reconstruction surgery
Current Positions
- Head Spine surgery and spinal oncology
- Co-director Neuroendocrine and Endoscopic Skull Base Surgery
Short Bio
Dr Mankahla earned his MBChB degree from the University of Kwazulu Natal in Durban. After working in General Surgery as a medical officer, he joined UCT neurosurgery in 2010. He completed his college examinations in 2015. In 2016 he completed dual training in Spine surgery and Skull Base/Endoscopic Pituitary surgery under mentorship of Professors A. Taylor and P. L Semple. He completed a further 1 year fellowship in paediatric neurosurgery under Prof A Figaji. Clinical activities are in adult and paediatric spinal surgery with a focus on spine oncology, and neuroendocrine surgery.
Email: ncedile.mankahla@uct.ac.za
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Dr Sally Rothemeyer
Medical School
University of the Witwatersrand
Postgraduate qualifications
FCNeurosurg (SA)
Year of Registration
2007
Further training
Functional Neurosurgery with Dr RL Melvill (Constantiaberg Medi-Clinic) and Professor Marwan Hariz, Queen Square, London
Areas of interest
- Functional Neurosurgery (Epilepsy, pain and movement disorders)
- Neurooncology and Neuroendoscopy
- Multidisciplinary Rehab Clinic
- NeuroHIV
Current positions
Consultant Neurosurgeon Groote Schuur Hospital
Professional affiliations
- Society of Neurosurgeons of South Africa
- World Society for Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery (Secretary, Organising Committee, 2011 Interim Meeting)
- WFNS Young Neurosurgeons Committee (South African delegate)
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Professor Patrick Semple
Medical School
University of Cape Town
Postgraduate qualifications
- MMed (Neurosurgery) University of Cape Town
- PhD University of Cape Town
- FCS(SA) Neurosurgery
Year of Registration
1994
Further training
- Fellowship in pituitary surgery (Professor Ed Laws, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, USA)
- Trained in endoscopic pituitary surgery (Prof Paolo Cappabianca, University Fredrico II, Naples, Italy)
Areas of interest
- Pituitary surgery
- Neuroendoscopic surgery
- Neurointensive care
Current positions
- Head of Clinical Unit and Head of Firm
- Head of Neurointensive care
- Co-director Neuroendocrine and Endoscopic Skull Base Surgery
Professional affiliations
- Society of Neurosurgeons of South Africa
- College of Medicine of South Africa (Senator)
- American Association of Neurological Surgeons
- International Society of Pituitary Surgeons
- College of Neurosurgeons of South Africa (President)
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Associate Professor Allan Taylor
Medical School
University of the Witwatersrand
Postgraduate qualifications
- MMed (Neurosurgery) University of Cape Town
- MSc (Neurointervention) University of Paris Sud/ Mahidol
- FCS(SA) Neurosurgery
Year of Registration
1995
Further training
Neurointerventional training under the mentorship of Professor Pierre Lasjaunias, Paris, France and Professor Karel ter Brugge, Toronto, Canada
Areas of interest
- Cerebrovascular surgery
- Neurointervention
- Skull Base surgery
- Radiosurgery
Current positions
- Head of Neurovascular Unit and Head of Firm Groote Schuur Hospital
- Visiting Professor University of the Witwatersrand
Professional affiliations
- Society of Neurosurgeons of South Africa (Secretary)
- South African Neurointervention Society
- World Federation of Therapeutic and Interventional Neuroradiology (Chairman of the 11th Bienniel Meeting, 2011)
Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital
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Dr Nico Enslin
Medical School
University of Pretoria
Postgraduate qualifications
- FC Neurosurg (SA) 2014
- MMed (Neurosurgery) University of Cape Town
Areas of interest
- Paediatric Neurosurgery
- Functional Neurosurgery
- Epilepsy, Spasticity and Movement Disorders
Short Bio
I studied physiotherapy and then medicine at University of Pretoria. This joint interest in neurology has lead me to pursue a career in Neurosurgery. I specialized at University of Cape Town and completed my neurosurgical training there, after which I did short fellowships in functional neurosurgery at various European neurosurgical units. I completed a year fellowship in Paediatric neurosurgery at Red Cross Children’s hospital in Cape Town, and this is where I am currently working as a consultant neurosurgeon. My special interests are functional neurosurgery: Epilepsy surgery, spasticity surgery and movement disorder surgery.
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Professor Anthony Figaji
Medical School
University of Cape Town
Postgraduate qualifications
- MMed (Neurosurgery) University of Cape Town
- PhD University of Cape Town
- FCNeurosurg (SA)
Year of Registration
2004
Further training
- Paediatric Neurosurgery under the mentorship of Professors Peter and Fieggen, Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital
- Short-term visits to units in New York, San Francisco and Verona
Areas of interest
- Paediatric Neurosurgery
- Neurotrauma
- Neurocritical care
- Intraoperative Neurophysiology
Current positions
- Head of Paediatric Neurosurgery Unit and Head of Firm
- Head of Neurocritical Care Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital
Professional affiliations
- Society of Neurosurgeons of South Africa
- Critical Care Society of South Africa
- International Society for Pediatric Neurosurgery
- International Neurotrauma Society (Executive Board)
- International Society for Intraoperative Neurophysiology (Executive Board, Chairman of the 2013 biennial Congress)
- Editorial boards: The Guide (ISPN Electronic textbook), Child’s Nervous System
- Steering Committee, AONeuro (AO Foundation)
- Scientific Chair of the Society of Neurosurgeons of South Africa
Part-time Consultants
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Emeritus Professor JC “Kay” de Villiers
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Dr Norman Fisher-Jeffes
Dr Norman Fisher-Jeffes
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Dr Shafik Parker
Dr Shafik Parker
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Emeritus Professor Jonathan C Peter
Emeritus Professor Jonathan C Peter
late (Childs Nerv Syst. 2018 Oct; 34(10):1809-1812)
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Dr Crispin Thompson
Dr Crispin Thompson
- Head of Neurospine
- Head of Green Firm
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Dr David Welsh
Medical School
University of Cape Town
Postgraduate qualifications
FRCS (Eng)FCS (SA) Neurosurgery
Year of Registration
2001
Further training
University of Cape Town
Areas of interest
- SpineCraniocervical junction
- Neuro-oncology
Current positions
- Head of Firm, Consultant Neurosurgeon
- Acute Spinal Cord Injury Unit Groote Schuur Hospital
Professional affiliations
- Society of Neurosurgeons of South AfricaSA Spine Society (Secretary and Treasurer)
- International faculty, AO Spine
- Editorial board: European Spine Journal
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Dr Grant White
Dr Grant White
Fellows
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Dr Christel Arnold
Dr Christel Arnold
Neurocritical care fellow
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Dr Michael Jario
Dr Michael Jario
Endovascular and Neurointervention fellow
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Dr Nqobile Thango
Dr Nqobile Thango
Paediatric Neurosurgery fellow
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Dr Andrew Mathole
Dr Andrew Mathole
Orthopaedic Spine fellow
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Dr Abidemi Oseni
Dr Abidemi Oseni
Neurocritical care fellow
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Mr Henco Van Dyk
Mr Henco Van Dyk
Intraoperative Neurophysiology fellow
Researchers
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Dr Nelleke Langerak
Degrees
- PhD Biomedical Engineering (2009)
- Bsc Physiotherapy (2004)
- MSc Human Movement Sciences (2001)
Research Projects
Interdisciplinary studies: gait analyses - physical, functional and fitness assessments - X-ray, MRI and DXA imaging – psychosocial, neurocognitive and life-style questionnaires.
Principal investigator on following projects:
- Long-term follow-up after Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy (SDR) in children with Cerebral Palsy (CP)
- Long-term follow-up after multiple orthopaedic interventions in children with CP
- Follow-up of children with HIV encephalopathy
- Transition from childhood into adulthood with CP
Biography
Dr Nelleke G. Langerak is a Human Movement Scientist (HMS) working at the Division of Neurosurgery, University of Cape Town, South Africa. Besides her Master’s degree in Biomedical Health Sciences (HMS, 2001), she also has a Bachelor’s degree in Physiotherapy (2004, Cum Laude) and a PhD degree in Biomedical Engineering (2009, Tripe A: Cum Laude). Her first two degrees were obtained in the Netherlands, while she completed her PhD at UCT in South Africa (SA). After completing a postdoctoral fellowship at Faculty of Health Sciences at Stellenbosch University (SU) in SA, she moved back to UCT where she is currently based.
Her expertise lies in interdisciplinary research with a special interest in the lives of people with childhood-onset neuromuscular disabilities. She enjoys working with a holistic approach resulting in studies with a wide variety of outcome measures including gait analysis, physical examinations, functional tests, brain and spine imaging, neurocognitive studies, and quality of life, activity and participation assessments.
Dr Langerak’s primary research is in the field of long-term follow-up studies after Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy (SDR), a neurosurgical procedure, in children with spastic diplegic Cerebral Palsy (CP). In line with this, she also focuses on long-term outcomes of orthopaedic interventions in this population and transition problems. Another area of interest is the status of children with HIV encephalopathy and spastic diplegia, which formed the basis of a prestigious Collaborative Initiative for Paediatric HIV Education and Research (CIPHER) award she received from the International AIDS Society. In addition, Dr Langerak received a five-year Research Career Advancement Fellowship funded by the National Research Foundation (NRF) South Africa, what she is currently holding at UCT.
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Dr Ursula Rohlwink
Degrees
- B.A Psychology and Neuroscience (2009)
- MSc Neuroscience (2009)
- PhD Neuroscience (2014)
Selected Academic Grants
- Clinical Infectious Diseases Research Initiative -Wellcome Trust PhD Fellowship
- Clinical Infectious Diseases Research Initiative -Wellcome Trust Post-doctoral Fellowship
- South African National Research Foundation Competitive Support for Unrated Researchers Grant
- USA National Neurotrauma Society TEAM Women in Neuroscience Visiting International Scholar Grant
Research focus
- Dr Rohlwink stives to answer clinically relevant questions through translational research by integrating clinical data from multimodality brain monitors with laboratory data from transcriptomics, proteomics, drug recovery and metabolic analyses.
Research Projects
- Biomarkers of brain injury and inflammation in paediatric tuberculous meningitis
- Differential gene expression profiling of the cerebrospinal fluid and blood of children with tuberculous meningitis
- Transcriptomic and metabolomic analysis of brain injury mechanisms and energy metabolism in paediatric tuberculous meningitis
- Neurocritical care in brain injury – traumatic and infectious
- Cerebral microdialysis in traumatic brain injury and tuberculous meningitis
- Pharmacokinetic profiling of rifampicin in site of disease samples in tuberculous meningitis
- Pharmacokinetic profiling of analgosedatives in traumatic brain injury
- Pathways of cell death in tuberculous meningitis
- Long term consequences of paediatric tuberculous meningitis
Biography
Dr Ursula Rohlwink joined the UCT Division of Neurosurgery in 2009 when she began her Master’s in Neuroscience investigating the relationship between intracranial pressure and brain oxygentaion following paediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI). Through her continued research in neurotrauma in the Paediatric Neurosurgery Unit she has gained insight into neurocritical care and multimodality neuromonitoring. For her PhD in Neuroscience she expanded her research on brain injury to tuberculous meningitis (TBM), a severe form of disseminated tuberculosis. Her project examined biomarkers of brain injury and inflammation in association with neurodevelomental and clinical outcome. Key findings indicated ongoing brain injury in patients despite full TBM treatment, and compartmentalisation of inflammatory and injury responses within the central nervous system. She pursued this work further during her post-doctoral fellowship by characterising the immune response and mechanisms of brain injury using whole-genome RNA-sequencing in site of disease samples. In 2018 Dr Rohlwink was awarded one of the first fellowships in the UCT Neuroscience Institute. She continues her work on TBI and TBM as a member of the Division of Neurosurgery.
Collaborations
- John’s Hopkins Medicine, USA
- Cambridge University, UK
- Francis Crick Institute, UK
- Imperial College, UK
- University of Stellenbosch, RSA
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Professor Peter Siesjö
Professor Peter Siesjö
Honorary Professor Lund University, Sweden
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Professor Matthew Wood
Professor Matthew Wood
Honorary Professor
University of Oxford, United Kingdom
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Registrars
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Dr Byron De John
Dr Byron De John
Year 1
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Dr Thembani Hina
Dr Thembani Hina
Year 2
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Dr Tomson Katungi
Dr Tomson Katungi
Year 3
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Dr Stefan Krugeri
Dr Stefan Kruger
Year 1
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Dr Jed Lazarus
Dr Jed Lazarus
Medical Officer
Dr Lazarus completed his MBChB at the University of Pretoria in 2015. He underwent his 2 year internship at New Somerset Hospital in Cape Town and completed his community service in 2019 at Potchefstroom Hospital, spending the year in the general surgery department. In 2019 he joined the Department of Neurosurgery at Groote Schuur Hospital as a Medical Officer. Outside of medicine he enjoys travelling to various countries around the world and expanding his horizons. He is a great fan of sport and likes to keep fit and active.
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Dr Rene Lekoloane
Dr Rene Lekoloane
Year 2
Dr Rene Lekoloane completed undergraduate training in 2012 with the University of KZN. After a 2-year internship in Cape Town, she went on to do rural attachment in the Limpopo province, followed by time spent in general surgery. She then returned to UCT as a medical officer in neurosurgery, before joining the registrar training programme in 2018.
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Dr Lizette Louw
Dr Lizette Louw
Year 3
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Dr Manyando Lubasi
Dr Manyando Lubasi
Year 3
MD, Yaroslavl State Medical Academy- Russian Federation
Did Internship at University teaching hospital (UTH) Lusaka Zambia for two years from 2009 to 2010 then was attached to a neurosurgical unit for over three months prior to being posted for rural service. Began neurosurgical training as a supernumerary registrar at UCT in September 2016.
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Dr Babalwa Scwebu
Dr Babalwa Scwebu
Medical Officer
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Dr Sean Tromp
Dr Sean Tromp
Year 4
Dr Tromp completed medical training at University of Cape Town in 2012. After two years of internship in East London, he spent time in general surgery and neurosurgery in Kimberley Hospital Complex, 2015. He then returned to UCT in January 2016 to begin his registrar training.