SA born billionaire Patrick Soon Shiong explores role of leadership excellence in combating Covid19
- US-based businessman and philanthropist Patrick Soon-Shiong will lead an impactful Botlhale Orenstein Memorial Lecture at Wits University on Wednesday evening
- Soon-Shiong's talk will highlight the role that innovative excellence has played in providing responsive health intervention to combat Covid-19
- In an exclusive interview with Briefly News, Antonia Appel, a Communications Manager within the Wits Faculty of Health, unpacked the important lecture series
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South African-born US-based bioscientist and entrepreneur Patrick Soon-Shiong will deliver an impactful 2021 Botlhale Orenstein Memorial Lecture at Wits University on Wednesday, 6 October.
Antonia Appel, Communications Manager within the Wits Faculty of Health Sciences, unpacked the overarching theme of the lecture series in an exclusive interview with Briefly News.
Source: UGC
She said the Orenstein lecture series brings to light leadership excellence, in particular recognising excellence in Wits Health Sciences Alumni.
Titled Cutting edge technology and 21st-century medicine during the Covid-19 Pandemic, Soon-Shiong's talk will highlight the role that innovative excellence has played in providing responsive health intervention to combat Covid-19.
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"As a global figure, Dr Soon-Shiong has been lauded for his visionary leadership and commitment to advancing medical and scientific research, and for his philanthropic endeavours," said Appel.
"Most recently, he was honoured at the Vatican with the Pontifical Key Visionary Award, which recognizes medical innovators who change the course of history and reduce suffering on a global scale by blending visionary thinking with real action."
Collaboration key to beating Covid-19
Appel said Soon-Shiong's experience as an innovator, medical doctor and entrepreneur will be invaluable in ensuring that the lecture's message is conveyed and disseminated widely.
The California-based medical sciences authority, under the auspices of his company NantWorks, a multinational California-based conglomerate, has partnered with the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), among others, to produce Covid-19 vaccines in South Africa.
"Dr Soon-Shiong is a pioneer in his field. As a physician, surgeon, scientist, inventor, technologist and philanthropist, he has devoted his career to understanding the fundamental biology driving life-threatening diseases and translating these insights into medical innovations with global impact.
"The growing collaboration between Wits University and Dr Soon-Shiong’s Nantworks Group is poised to move Wits beyond the clinical evaluation of vaccines," Appel added.
Wits at the forefront of innovation and growth
Soon-Shiong has also committed to local manufacture of oncology immune-therapies, which will require training of different categories of scientists and doctors.
Appel told Briefly News this will align with the latest technology and innovative approaches in vaccine and immune-therapeutics development.
She lauded the Botlhale Orenstein Memorial Lecture as a vehicle to showcase the exceptional achievements of Wits alumni, both locally and abroad.
"Beyond this, our hope is that the lecture will inspire future generations of health innovators to be globally competitive and locally responsive; to cultivate a culture of entrepreneurship in South Africa," Appel added.
Covid19: SA-born entrepreneur Patrick Soon-Shiong to deliver memorial lecture
In recently published news, Briefly News reported that Soon-Shiong will deliver the Botlhale Orenstein Memorial Lecture at Wits University on Wednesday, 6 October.
The lecture series is one of the most important public lectures delivered at the Wits University Faculty of Health Sciences.
"Botlhale", which means wisdom in Sesotho, was added to the eponym Orenstein to commemorate the principles of the significance of excellence that the speakers in the lecture have and continue to represent.
The event will be hosted by the chair of the Adler Museum Board professor Daynia Ballot, Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences professor Shabir Madhi, and president of the Health Graduates' Association Dr Paul Davis.
Source: Briefly News
