Sapokazi Timakwe

Encouraged by her family and mentored by a fellow woman in science, Sapokazi Timakwe has embarked on an impressive academic career. Overcoming obstacles caused by the COVID-19 restrictions, student protests and taxi violence, she holds a Master of Applied Science in Chemistry a Bachelor of Technology in chemistry and a National diploma in Analytical Chemistry; all received at the Cape Peninsula University of technology. It is here that she is currently undertaking a PhD in Chemistry, as well as working as an intern in the AgriFood Technology Station within the same institution. Sapokazi is passionate about materials electrochemistry, and has already published three articles as a result of her research that contributed towards her MSc.

In addition to this, Sapokazi received funding from the National Research Foundation as well as the CPUT postgraduate bursary, participated in the 70th International Society of Electrochemistry (ISE) conference, where she was awarded a prize for best poster presentation. She then went on to represent Africa among 25 participants who were selected globally, to partake in the 14th PTA School of Electrochemistry at the University of São Paulo, Brazil.

This year, Sapokazi obtained funding from the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), was awarded a Vice Chancellor’s prestigious award and is currently a part of the L’Oréal-UNESCO for Women in Science South African National Programme. She has also been nominated for the James Moir Medal, represented students in the Senate Teaching and Learning Committee and acted as a PhD candidate representative in the Department of Chemistry.

Inspired by her training, research and family history of diabetes, Sapokazi is working on developing an electrochemical sensor device, based on bimetallic oxide nanoclay composites, to determine the amount of insulin in the body, which would help in predicting the possible onset of Diabetes.

Diabetes is an incurable chronic disease that affects millions of people worldwide. Especially among women, diabetes is the major cause of serious illness and there are still many deaths associated with the disease, which could be due to the failure of current management methods, or perhaps late stage diagnosis. Sapokazi’s research showed that the present management of diabetes through traditional glucose monitoring methods is failing, which inspired her to focus on biomarkers such as insulin.

Sapokazi hopes that the development of her proposed sensor - which will aid in quantifying the amount of insulin, which if lacking or malfunctioning is the main cause of diabetes - will assist in screening people for the potential onset of diabetes before it reaches the incurable stage, thus allowing them to manage their glucose and insulin levels through lifestyle changes and significantly reduce the threats of the disease.

Because glucose monitoring is such an established and dominant method of identifying and managing diabetes, Sapokazi has faced challenges in identifying appropriate literature on experimental procedures. Despite this, and challenges with procuring funding to secure chemicals and outsource characterization techniques, she envisions herself amongst young professors in the space of research and academics, positively contributing towards the growth of nations, addressing societal, health and environmental challenges through research.

 

Sapokazi invites young girls to overcome the antiquated opinion that women are incapable of a career in the traditionally male-dominated scientific field and encourages women in science to “… embrace, encourage, celebrate, and uplift one another as we embark on this journey of establishing our own path, discovering our value, and refusing to let others define our capabilities.”