Sight and Life Magazine 1/2011

58A DAY IN THE LIFE OF JOHANN C JERLINGSight and LifeInterviewA Day in the Life of Johann C JerlingJohann C Jerling (PhD)is the Director of TReNDS – Centre of Excellence forNutrition at North-West University (PotchefstroomCampus), South Africa. He talks about his work atTReNDS, as well as his involvement in initiatives suchas the African Nutrition Leadership Program (ANLP).Sight and Life (SAL): Johann, what does your work as the Directorof TReNDS involve?Johann Jerling (JJ): I became the director fairly recently, onJanuary 1, 2011. I see my role as developing and leading a team,which in this case is a team of nutrition scientists. In general,as a group, we spend 40 percent of our time on undergraduatestudent training, 40 percent on research, and 20 percent on theimplementation of expertise.SAL: What do you do in the course of a working day, and whatimpact does it make?JJ: I aim to create an environment where team members excelat what they do. I also believe that we should really enjoy whatwe do, which is something that is sometimes neglected in ourworld. I aim to create an environment where people enjoy whatthey are doing. I try to achieve this on different levels; the firstthing is to listen to what people have to say, and to try and solveproblems. I have access to resources, so I try to use these wisely.If you can throw money at a problem, that’s fine, but very oftenit’s about supporting someone, creating energy, and then, sometimes,putting a little bit of fun into it, so we don’t take ourselvestoo seriously!We are a group of about 18 academic staff members, as wellas about 30 graduates and postgraduates, who form a centralpart of our research effort. We carry out research in variousfields at a level ranging from molecular to societal. The first isin the area of diet and hemostasis, or blood clotting. We have aresearch program in nutrigenetics that is fairly new and togetherthey form the basis of our molecular work. We also do researchin the area of micronutrients and cognition; in body composition,both overweight and underweight; and we have a research programon nutrition transition, which is an overriding theme thatwe have. As with most parts of the developing world, in SouthAfrica nutrition transition already has a huge impact on thehealth systems of our and other countries. We also have a verystrong research program in fatty acids and lipids, which is linkedto cognition, micronutrient status, and under- and over-nutrition.Another theme is best described as nutrition in exerciseand sport. This is fairly new and we are investigating the possibilityof a postgraduate specialization degree in this area.We try to develop track records in all of these areas. I reallybelieve in teamwork. I don’t believe that, as academics, we cando everything well – I’m a big fan of getting strong teams togetherand pooling the expertise that is necessary to do the job and doit well. We develop trans-disciplinary research teams around importanthealth themes and steer clear from developing researchareas focused on individual capabilities. Sometimes you are ateam member, sometimes you are a leader; it all depends onwhere you are at.SAL: Is there such a thing as a “normal” day for you?JJ: Not at all! Every once in a while, I wish I could have a daywhere I could say, “Now it’s finished,” but that’s not the case inmy role. I work long hours, and every day is a mixture of all sortsof things. Some are administrative, others might be researchrelated,but a lot of them are people-related. People come to me⇢