Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University (SMU) has promoted Professor Moreoagae Bertha Randa from Senior Lecturer to Associate Professor in the Department of Public Health, recognising her distinguished contributions to teaching, research, postgraduate supervision, academic leadership and community engagement.
The promotion acknowledges Professor Randa’s sustained excellence across the University’s core academic mission. It acknowledges a career dedicated to advancing public health scholarship, strengthening health systems, and developing future health professionals. Since joining SMU in 2013, she has steadily progressed through the academic ranks while making significant contributions to public health education, research capacity development, and evidence-informed health policy in South Africa. She currently serves as Head of the Health Systems Management and Policy Unit in the Department of Public Health, where she provides strategic academic leadership, coordinates postgraduate teaching and supervision, and supports the development of research programmes aligned with national health priorities.
In addition to her departmental leadership, Professor Randa actively contributes to strengthening the University’s research enterprise. She serves as Chairperson of the School of Health Care Sciences Research Committee, contributes to Senate-level research and postgraduate structures, and has previously served on the SMU Research Ethics Committee. Through these leadership roles, she has helped strengthen research governance, postgraduate quality assurance and the University’s research culture.
Professor Randa’s appointment reflects her successful fulfilment of the University’s rigorous promotion criteria for Associate Professor, including holding a doctoral qualification, demonstrating substantial academic leadership, successful supervision of master’s and doctoral students, leading nationally impactful research, securing external research funding, publishing extensively in accredited scientific journals and making significant contributions to professional service and community engagement.
“I am deeply honoured by this promotion, which reflects not only my personal journey but also the invaluable support of colleagues, students, mentors and collaborators who have contributed to my academic growth,” said Professor Randa. “My commitment remains focused on advancing research that addresses South Africa’s pressing public health challenges, strengthening postgraduate education and research capacity, and working collaboratively to generate evidence that informs policy, strengthens health systems and ultimately improves the health and wellbeing of communities, while mentoring the next generation of researchers, educators and health leaders.”
With more than 38 years of experience spanning clinical practice, nursing education, higher education and public health research, Professor Randa has built an impressive academic portfolio centred on gender-based violence, sexual and reproductive health, mental health, health systems strengthening, health policy and healthcare quality improvement. Her work integrates implementation science, health systems research and multidisciplinary collaboration to develop innovative, contextually relevant solutions to complex public health challenges. Her research has informed policy dialogue, supported evidence-informed decision-making, and contributed to the development of interventions to strengthen health systems and improve health outcomes among vulnerable and underserved populations.
Her scholarly work has attracted significant national and international research funding through competitive grants from organisations including the British Academy, the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC), the Centre for International Reproductive Health Training (CIRHT), the University of Michigan’s Centre for Global Health Equity (CGHE) and the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF). These awards have supported innovative research, strengthened multidisciplinary collaborations, and expanded partnerships with leading institutions in South Africa and abroad.
Professor Randa has successfully led and co-led several nationally and internationally funded multidisciplinary research projects addressing priority public health challenges, including health systems strengthening, gender-based violence, sexual and reproductive health, mental health, and healthcare quality improvement. Her scholarship is recognised for integrating implementation science, health systems research and interdisciplinary collaboration to generate evidence that informs policy, strengthens health systems and improves health outcomes.
Through extensive collaborations with universities and research institutions in the United Kingdom and across Africa, Professor Randa has strengthened research capacity and advanced contextually relevant solutions to complex public health challenges. These partnerships continue to enhance knowledge generation, innovation and evidence-informed practice in South Africa and beyond.
Her expertise is further recognised nationally through her appointment as a Higher Education representative on the Gauteng College of Nursing Council. In this role, she contributes to nursing education governance, professional development and the advancement of higher education within the nursing profession in South Africa. Beyond research, Professor Randa has made an enduring contribution to postgraduate education. Over the course of her academic career, she has supervised and mentored numerous master’s and doctoral candidates, many of whom now contribute to academia, research and the healthcare sector. This reflects her enduring commitment to developing the next generation of African health researchers and academic leaders. In addition to her own scholarly contributions, Professor Randa is widely recognised for her commitment to research capacity development. Through postgraduate supervision, mentoring early-career academics, facilitating research development initiatives and supporting emerging scholars, she has played a significant role in nurturing the next generation of researchers and academic leaders in public health and the health sciences. She continues to mentor emerging researchers and early-career academics, serves as a reviewer for journals, an external examiner for postgraduate theses across several South African universities and contributes to institutional and national academic committees that promote excellence in research governance, quality assurance, ethics, innovation and postgraduate education.
Professor Randa’s academic influence extends beyond the classroom. She has established herself as a respected scholar through an extensive record of publications in peer-reviewed journals, scholarly book chapters and presentations at national and international conferences. Her collaborative research, particularly in the field of gender-based violence, has contributed to the development of innovative educational resources and strengthened international partnerships aimed at improving healthcare responses and support for survivors of violence.
The promotion reinforces SMU’s commitment to recognising academic leaders whose scholarship advances research excellence, innovation, postgraduate education and societal impact. As a dedicated health sciences university, SMU continues to invest in scholars whose work advances scientific knowledge, strengthens health systems, informs public policy, develops future healthcare leaders, and contributes meaningfully to improving the health and wellbeing of communities in South Africa, across the African continent and beyond.
By Tumelo Moila
