For final year medical student Kumeren Govender, being awarded a scholarship that will pay his travel, living and study expenses at the prestigious Oxford University, England is the latest in a long list of achievements.
The 24-year-old, who won a Rhodes scholarship to study overseas next year, plans to focus his PhD degree studies on the interdisciplinary field of artificial intelligence, and complex systems.
“The aim of this is to use big data from healthcare systems or genomic data to solve complex healthcare threats including patterns of diseases such as the emergence of drug-resistant TB or antibiotic resistance, which is predicted to be the number one cause of death by 2050,” he said.
When he enrolled at University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) for the medical programme, during his undergraduate years of study he managed to publish three peer reviewed articles and presented papers at conferences.
Govender’s academic achievements include being placed in the Top 5 "intellects" of the International Science Competition in Abuja, Nigeria; receiving a medal from the International Sustainable World Energy, Engineering and Environment Project, Texas; and being awarded the Dean’s Commendation for every semester; the Vice-Chancellor’s Scholarship for the top 3 students in the College of Health Sciences; and the Golden Key Chapter Award 2014 for best all-round achiever.