A Wits university researcher and inventor, Michael Lucas, has scooped the prestigious Prix Hubert Tuor Innovation Award for his Antimicrobial Coating Technology.
The award is one of the top honours handed out at the International Conference on Prevention and Infection Control in Geneva.
The technology, now in its fifth year of development, is a novel solution to address the problem of nosocomial infections.
These are infections acquired during hospital stays, are a significant and persistent issue faced by hospitals across the world.
Antimicrobial coatings can be applied to high contact surfaces where there is a risk of contamination, including medical facilities, food processing plants and public transport surfaces.
A Wits University researcher and inventor, Michael Lucas, has scooped the prestigious Prix Hubert Tuor Innovation Award for his Antimicrobial Coating Technology. Video: Zodidi Dano/ African News Agency
“Infection control is an ongoing challenge in hospitals. Surface contamination and subsequent microbial transmission are known contributors to this. My design for a self sanitizing surface coating serves to address this growing problem, and the results are very promising.
“Environmental contamination and particularly surface contamination were agreed to be of high importance. I believe that the preliminary results of an approach to contamination control present notable advantages, which set my research apart.” said Michael Lucas.