S20 South Africa

Janice Leigh Limson is a Professor of Biotechnology at Rhodes University in South Africa. She has held the Department of Science & Innovation (DSI)/National Research Foundation South African Research Chair in Biotechnology Innovation & Engagement since 2015. In 2014 she led the foundation of the Rhodes University Biotechnology Innovation Centre (RUBIC). RUBIC represents a new model in the higher education training of Biotechnology where technology transfer occurs alongside research and meaningful engagement with communities. In partnership with UNICEF and the South African Medical Research Council, her research group has made strides towards the development of diagnostic sensors for several targets of relevance to monitoring health in developing countries as well as in foetal and maternal health. Prof Limson has been engaged in policy making in South Africa and is the former editor of Science in Africa magazine and of the National Nanotechnology Public Engagement e-newsletter. She also currently serves as host to the UNICEF Innovation Node in Biotechnology, on the Board of Directors of the acclaimed NGO, Food and Trees for Africa and as Chair of the Academy of Science of South Africa STEMI committee. As Director of the DSI/NMMF (Nano-Micro Manufacturing Facility) her work extends to enabling prototyping and manufacturing of paper-based diagnostics nationally. Her research group’s work in Next-Generation Biosensor Diagnostics was recognised by FASTCOMPANY as part of their 2023 World Changing Ideas Awards: in the Developing World Technology category. She is a former recipient of the National Science and Technical Forum Award for Outstanding Contribution to SET in South Africa, winner of the Vice-Chancellor’s Distinguished Research Award at Rhodes University and twice featured as one of South Africa’s Mail & Guardian Young Leaders. She serves as Associate Editor of the IEEE Sensors Journal, on the Board of the International Society of Microbial and Electrochemical Technologies, on the International IEEE Teaching Awards Committee, and recently served as the co-chair of the 70th Annual Meeting of the  International Society of Electrochemistry held for the first time in Africa in 2019 in Durban. Holding several patents, she was recently recognized by the DSI/National Intellectual Property Management Organisation (NIPMO) for her contribution to intellectual property generation in the country.