Prof. Refilwe Phaswana-Mafuya is the Deputy Vice
Chancellor of Research and Innovation at the University of Johannesburg. She is
also a Professor of Epidemiology and Public Health,
trained at the University of Limpopo and London School of Hygiene and Tropical
Medicine, UK. She is the founding Director of the first ever and the only South
African Medical Research Council Extramural Unit at the University of
Johannesburg, the Pan-African Centre for Epidemics Research (PACER). Preceding
this, Prof. Phaswana-Mafuya was the first Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Research and
Innovation at the North-West University, October 2017–October 2020. She also worked at
the Human Sciences Research Council as an Acting Executive Director, SAHARA
Director, Research Director, and Chief Research Manager, January 2005–September 2017.
Prof. Phaswana-Mafuya is a fellow of the African Academy of Sciences, Academy of
Science of South Africa, an organization for women in science in developing
countries, and an NRF-rated scientist. She received the 2024 HERS-SA Lifetime
Achiever and Trailblazer Awards for her outstanding contributions in higher
education. Prof. Phaswana-Mafuya has also received the prestigious National
Science and Technology Forum TW Nkambule Award (2017) in recognition of her
outstanding contribution to Science Engineering and Technology, 15 years after
obtaining her PhD. She was coronated as Queen Mother for Research and
Development by the Abeadze Kingdom, Central Ghana, in August 2022.
