Oettlé Memorial Award 2018 to Professor Jennifer Moodley
Prof Jennifer Moodley
Jennifer Moodley has been recognised and selected to receive the coveted AG Oettlé Memorial medal from CANSA for outstanding contributions to cancer research.
Prof Moodley is a Public Health Medicine physician with expertise in health systems research, epidemiology and public policy development. She is the current Director of the Faculty of Health Sciences Cancer Research Initiative, having been appointed in 2013 to lead the development of a comprehensive, integrated cancer research program, promote collaborative partnerships and support the translation of cancer research into a clinical and public health benefit. She has undertaken this role with energy and enthusiasm and with excellent results. Prof Moodley has been at UCT for the past 21 years and was appointed Ad hominem to Full Professor in 2016. Apart from being the Director of the CRI she has played a number of leadership roles including serving as the Director of the Women’s Health Research Unit in the School of Public Health (2005-2011), Deputy Director of the UCT/SAMRC Gynaecology Cancer Research Centre, and as Deputy Dean for Research in the Faculty of Health Sciences in 2016.
Prof Moodley is a committed, highly regarded and socially responsive researcher. She has raised more than R50M in grant funding from national and international organisations. A focus area of Prof Moodley’s research is cervical and breast cancer, 2 of the leading female caners on this continent. Her work includes epidemiological research on the association between human immunodeficiency virus, human papillomavirus (HPV), and cervical cancer in South Africa, programmatic challenges in prevention of cervical cancer, research on the cost-effectiveness of the HPV vaccine, quality of life research and research to better understand patient journeys to cancer care. Prof Moodley has published more than 50 peer-reviewed articles. The median impact factor for journals in the field of Public Health is 1.81 and the majority of Prof Moodley’s articles have been published in journals with a higher impact factor. Her commitment to social development and translating research in policy and practise is evidenced by her involvement and contributions to the development of national cancer policies, her service as a technical consultant to the World Health Organisation on the implementation of the HPV vaccine, by her invitation to service on the Ministerial Advisory Committee on the Prevention and Control of Cancer (MACC) where she chaired the MACC cancer research working group and her invitation to serve on the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Regional Advisory Committee for Africa. In addition, she has made important contributions to the public discourse on cancer through arrangement of seminars open to the public, involvement with cancer non-governmental groups and interactions with the media.
Prof Moodley commits a significant amount of time to under- and post-graduate students. Noting a gap in master’s level training in cancer prevention and control, Prof Moodley developed a module as part of the UCT Masters in Public Health (MPH) to address the gap. Demonstrating her commitment to developing an excellent cutting-edge curriculum, she attended the National Cancer Institute Summer Curriculum on Principles in Cancer Prevention and Control held in Washington, DC. The UCT MPH Cancer Prevention and Control Module is the first such module in the country and has received excellent reviews. She is a caring and supportive teacher as is evidence by her student feedback reports. She has also convened courses to support translational cancer research for researchers from low and middle-income countries.
Dr Melissa Wallace (former CANSA Head of Research) presented the AG Oettlé award to Prof Jennifer Moodley at a UCT School of Public Health Day on 20 September 2018
Prof Moodley is an excellent, committed researcher who has made significant contributions to cancer control in South Africa and is a worthy recipient of the AG Oettle Memorial Award.
CANSA honours this distinguished scientist in recognition of her remarkable contribution to reducing the impact of cancer on the women of our country.
