2023 Champion of Research Capacity Development and Transformation at South African Higher Education Institutions

Prof Fhumulani Mavis Mulaudzi holds the South African Research Chair in Ubuntu
Community Model of Nursing and is a Professor of Nursing at the University of Pretoria. Her research interests are in Ubuntu Philosophy which advocates for transformation and diversity in Africa, particularly in South Africa. Prior to her appointment as SARChI Chair, Prof Mulaudzi was the Head of the Department of Nursing Science for ten years and the Chair of the School of Health Care Sciences at UP. She is currently the first Deputy President of the Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (DENOSA) and President of the Global Nurses and Midwives Rotary Club. Prof Mulaudzi is also the Chief Editor of the Curationis Journal.

Prof Mulaudzi believes in problem-based learning which allows students to present and teach each other to promote peer education. She desires to see women, particularly young and black women, leading in the scholarship of research, teaching, and learning, thus her Master’s and PhD students are mostly black women the majority of them are NRF-funded and the majority of her black students received their PhDs in three to five years. She also co-publishes with her students to increase science engagement among them. Prof Mulaudzi also works with professional nurses and undergraduate students to ensure that they are using Ubuntu when caring for their patients.

Her work on the Ubuntu project encompasses five universities mentoring emerging researchers on how to incorporate community engagement, teaching, and learning into their research. This has resulted in a manual on Ubuntu TB, HIV, and AIDS-informed care. The goal of creating this manual was to teach traditional healers and community workers how to deal with these diseases in their communities. She believes in participatory action research to teach researchers how to work with key stakeholders to implement research in their communities, thereby improving health care. She has recently edited a book called Working with indigenous knowledge: strategies for health professionals. Her research outputs during the last eight years include 56 peer-reviewed articles, 10 book chapters, and two books.