universit y of kw azulu-na tal research repor t 2008/2009 - UKZN ...

Professor Michael GreenDProfessor Michael Green, a formerDProfessor Michael Green, a formerDProfessor and Head of the School ofDLiterary Studies, Media and CreativeDArts at UKZN, considers recognition as Da UKZN Research Fellow for 2009 the“highest honour” of his research career.The UKZN alumnus who acquired his Bachelor of Arts degree inEnglish, Drama and Philosophy at the former University of Natal in1977 and a BA Honours in English in 1978, was conferred with the titleof Research Fellow as a result of wide-ranging research in southernAfrican literary studies and in creative writing. His Masters and doctoraldegrees in English were acquired through Stanford University in theUnited States and the University of York in the UK, respectively.Professor Green, now a Reader in Creative Writing in the Division ofEnglish and Creative Writing at Northumbria University, United Kingdom,has engaged in research on creative writing pedagogy; South Africanliterary history; and the uses of history in South African fiction over a 20-yearperiod.His publications include the scholarly monograph Novel Histories:Past, Present and Future in South African Fiction, published in 1997,and two works of fiction: Sinking: A Verse Novella, which won theUniversity of Natal Book Prize in 1998, and For the Sake of Silence,which won the Olive Schreiner Prize for Prose in 2010.Peer-reviewed journals that have published Professor Green’sresearch include: the Journal of Southern African Studies, Englishin Africa, Research in African Literatures, World Literature Written inEnglish, Current Writing, and the English Academy Review.Professor Shunmugam GovenderFellows of the UniversityPProfessor Shunmugam Govender, thePHead of the Department of OrthopaedicPSurgery at the Nelson R Mandela SchoolPof Medicine was recognised as a UKZN PResearch Fellow in 2009 for researchendeavours spanning 24 years.Orthopaedic research in the areas of spinal deformity, trauma,infection and fracture healing have captured the interest of ProfessorGovender in the course of his career, resulting in the publication of 106articles in peer-reviewed journals and chapters in five textbooks.His selection as Research Fellow comes in the wake of knowledgeproduction in the area of spinal deformity, focusing on spinal tuberculosis(TB) and spinal infection (fungal and parasitic) among HIV positive andnegative patients. In patients with paraplegia due to hydatid infestationhe developed a radical procedure, total vertebrectomy, to eradicatethe disease focus and prevent recurrence. In the past recurrence andneurological deficit occurred within 18 months following laminectomy.He pioneered the dual approach in the surgical correction of fixedatlanto-axial (C1/C2) rotatory subluxation in children.His contribution to orthopaedic research has earned ProfessorGovender several accolades over the years including the SouthAfrican Orthopaedic Association Award for Best Peer-reviewedpublication in the British Journal of Bone and Joint Surgeryover fiveconsecutive years (1999 to 2003); and the South African OrthopaedicAssociated Presidential Medal for contributions to spinal TB. Heedited the textbook: Inflammatory Disorders of the Spinein 2003. Hisresearch findings on spinal disorders have been presented before57 international conferences. The Clinical Orthopaedics and RelatedResearchand theJournal of Paediatric Orthopaedicsare also amongthe list of journals to have published Professor Govender’s research.Professor Govender serves on the editorial boards of the Journal ofBone and Joint Surgery; the South African Orthopaedic Journalandthe Indian Journal of Orthopaedics. He is a part of the review boardfor the European Spinal Journal.Professor Govender holds an MBChB degree obtained at the GrantMedical College, University of Bombay in 1974. He has been a Fellowof the Royal College of Surgeons in the United Kingdom since 1979,MD University of Natal 1999; and a Fellow of the American Board ofMinimally Invasive Spinal Surgery, New York in 2003, FC (Ortho) PeerReview 2005 C.M.S.A.UKZN Research Report // 2008/2009 55