USANA
CONFERENCE
6th Biennial Conference
5th to 8th September
2024
United South African Neonatal Association
Drakensberg
Kwazulu Natal, South Africa
Dear colleagues
On behalf of the United South African Neonatal Association (USANA) executive committee, we have the pleasure of announcing that next year’s 2024 6th Biennial USANA conference will be held at Champagne Sports Resort in the “mountains of dragons” – the picturesque Drakensberg in the garden province of South Africa, KwaZulu Natal .
We are excited to hold a face-to-face conference with all health care professionals with a collective interest in providing safe neonatal care present in one intimate setting.
The conference will be held over four days from Thursday the 5th September 2024 until Sunday the 8th September 2024. As per previous years, USANA 2024 will be preceded by pre-conference workshops, which will occur as two parallel sessions on Thursday the 5th September 2024. Both workshops promise to be appealing to both doctors and nurses.
The USANA biennial conferences have always offered a rewarding academic experience for doctors, nurses, nurse educators and allied staff with a shared interest in evidence-based care paradigms, and recent advances in neonatal care. The evolution of neonatology has been astounding with vast improvements in neonatal outcomes. However, modern neonatology embraces a “less is more” approach – minimal handling, less invasive testing, and use of point of care devices. The theme of USANA 2024 embodies this concept of “Gentle Neonatology.”
There will be local and international speakers, hot topics, a “poster café” with research abstracts that may be browsed at one’s leisure with a select few best abstracts as presentations. There will be “hot” ethical topics, dedicated sessions on quality improvement, and “Green and Rotten Apples” – exciting updates on active neonatal research in South Africa and what is yet to come from local research output and the use of technology in medicine.
Our welcome drinks and gala dinner with surprise theme promise to be engaging and interactive with great opportunities for networking, collaboration, and engagement with exhibitors.
Please mark your calendars. We will be sending further details and a programme soon.
See you in the Drakensberg in September 2024.
Shakti Pillay
Conference Chair
Gugu Kali
President
On behalf of USANA EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
President
Vice President
Secretary
Treasurer
Conference Chair
Special Projects
Co-Opted Member
Co-Opted Member
Dr Gugu Kali
Dr Phumza Nongena
Dr Firdose Nakwa
Dr Pinky Chirwa
Dr Shakti Pillay
Professor Dini Mawela
Dr Niree Naidoo
Sr Beatrice Africa
Hot topics
Exciting international and local speakers including pre-conference workshops
Gala Dinner
“Green and Rotten Apples”
Networking
Poster Cafe
SAVE THE DATE
THURSDAY
SepT 5
Registration and Welcome
Pre-Conference Workshops
FRIDAY TO SUNDAY
SepT 6-8
3 Conference Days
Gala Dinner on Saturday evening
CONTACT US
For Membership Matters: Please contact the secretary
Dr Firdose Nakwa Firdose.Nakwa@wits.ac.za
For Conference Related Matters: Please contact the conference organiser
Dr Shakti Pillay shakti.pillay@uct.ac.za
Dr Gugu Kali
CONFERENCE ORGANISER
Dr Shakti Pillay shakti.pillay@uct.ac.za
EXECUTIVE committee
Gugu Kali
PRESIDENT
Gugu Kali is the head of neonatology at Stellenbosch University/Tygerberg Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa. She has worked in neonatology for 20 years and has a wide range of experience from working in different academic centres in South Africa, the United Kingdom and Ireland. Her main area of interest, which was also the subject of her doctoral studies, is neonatal hypoxic ischaemic brain injury and neuroprotection.
Phumza NONGENA
VICE PRESIDENT
Phumza is an experienced paediatrician & neonatologist with a passion for neonatal service provision across all levels of healthcare specifically the interaction between hospital and community based neonatal health conditions. She thrives in teaching and equipping students and professionals in both the medical and nursing fields.
SHAKTI PILLAY
CONFERENCE ORGANISER
Shakti is a neonatologist in the Division of Neonatal Medicine at Groote Schuur Hospital. Her research interests are focused on congenital infections, and neurology particularly babies with hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy and use of therapeutic hypothermia in low middle income countries. She is passionate about implementation of governance and ethical principles and using digital technology to improve access to medical information and better care. She designed, developed, and co-authored the content of the Neonatal Guide App and is one of the lead authors for the 2023 South African National Department of Health Neonatal Guidelines.
Firdose Nakwa
Secretary
Firdose Nakwa is a Neonatologist at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital. She is a Witsie having completed all her training, both undergraduate and postgraduate at the University of the Witwatersrand. Her credentials include MBBCh (Wits), FCPaeds (SA), Masters in Paediatrics - MMEd Paeds (SA), Certificate of Neonatology (SA), Certificate of Paediatric Neurology (SA).
She is the Head of Neonatology at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital and the Divisonal Head of the Wits Academic Hospitals. She is the programme director for the Neonatal Fellow Training. She has been involved with both retrospective studies and international prospective trials.
She is a Co-PI on the NESHIE study (a multinational study on Neonates with Suspected Hypoxic Ischaemic Encephalopathy) and the NEO-INSPIRe study at the CHBAH site. She is an investigator on the NEOOBS and NEOSEP studies. She is a Neonatal Life Support (NLS) Task Force Member for ILCOR.
She is passionate about neonatal neurology and has a keen interest in perinatal asphyxia, cranial ultrasounds and neonatal neurology conditions.
NIREE NAIDOO
CO-OPTED MEMBER
Dr Niree Naidoo completed her undergraduate training at the University of the Witwatersrand in 1995. She then completed her Paediatric and Neonatal Training at UKZN in 2005. Niree has worked as a neonatal specialist in the neonatal intensive care unit at Inkosi Albert Luthuli Hospital where she also spent 2 years being part of them Neonatal Outreach Programme. She is currently the Head of clinical Unit (Neonatology) at Prince Mshiyeni Memorial hospital, a regional hospital in the south of Durban. She has a special interest in the care of the premature newborn and in the prevention of long - term handicap and morbidity in this population of patients. In her spare time, Niree is an avid baker, yoga teacher and ultra- marathon runner.
BEATRICE AFRICA-JOSEPH
CO-OPTED MEMBER
CLINICAL PROGRAMME COORDINATOR
HEAD OF DEPARTMENT: EDUCATION
Beatrice has 37 years of experience in public health service. She found her niche in Neonatal Nursing science.
She is currently overseeing operations and coordination of in-service training and all student placements from the different Health Education Interfaces (HEIs) in the education department of Mowbray Maternity Hospital (MMH). She facilitates workshops on Mother-Baby Friendly Hospitals at MMH. She will be co-facilitating the Raising Breastfeeding Champions Workshop at the USANA Conference 2024.
Professional Achievements
- Masters degree in nursing science
- Post graduate diploma Midwifery & Neonatology
- Post graduate diploma Nursing Education, RM, RN
- Beatrice completed her thesis on the BILS Program for her master’s degree in nursing in 2019 at Stellenbosch University
- Nominated as a Senate Member for Western Cape College of Nursing│2022
- Co-opted as the first nurse on the United South African Neonatal Association Executive Committee
- Implemented the research recommendations at MMH in 2019
- Presented her research findings and recommendations at the National PRIORITIES Conference in 2020, Research Day at Stellenbosch University 2019, Provincial Webinar in 2020, SOMSA Conference 2021 and conducted workshops at the USANA Conference in 2022.
WATCH THIS SPACE
DETAILS TO FOLLOW