皮尔, 纳希塔

An old adage that goes, “a journey of a thousand miles, begins with a single step”, resonates with Dr Nasheeta Peer. What she simply recalls as being a fortuitous viewing of a vacancy advertisement by the South African Medical Research Council back in 2004 and applying for it, led her to the world of research and unlocked her potential as a scientist. At the time, the organisation was looking to appoint a clinician to conduct cardiovascular disease research, but fast forward from that day, she has a different story to tell – she describes the past 18 years that she has spent at the SAMRC to be the most fulfilling of her career. But who is Dr Peer? A NRF C1 rated scientist, Dr Peer is a Senior Specialist Scientist within the Non-Communicable Diseases Research Unit of the SAMRC and conducts research on non-communicable diseases epidemiology focusing on Cardiovascular and cardiometabolic diseases. Her area of expertise includes Diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidaemia, obesity and tobacco smoking. Her research focuses on the epidemiology and prevention of cardiovascular risk factors in South Africa and internationally. She was previously supervised by Professor Naomi Levitt and the late Krisela Steyn. Nasheeta has collaborated with UCT in an HRA capacity since 2015 and this involves student supervision, mentorship, research grant applications and enhancing research network opportunities. Her work has had a major impact on the formation of health policy for the prevention of NCDs by the National Department of Health. But that is not all there is to this – she is also Associate Professor at the Department of Medicine, Faculty of Health sciences, University of Cape Town (UCT); an Associate Editor for the: BMC Public Health, as well as the Academic Editor for the: PLOS Global Public Health. Her immeasurable contribution to research has led to a number of accolades under her name – including the recipient of the best publication in diabetes award presented by the Society for Endocrinology, Metabolism and Diabetes of South Africa (SEMDSA) in 2013 and 2015; and an award in the International Society of Hypertension (ISH) New Investigator Oral Presentation category in 2021. Even with her busy schedule, she managed to receive distinctions for her MPH and MBA dissertations – talk about a bookworm of note! Speaking of being a bookworm, Dr Peer’s qualifications include: • MBChB: University of Natal • MBA (Master of Business Administration): University of Cape Town • MPH (Master’s in Public Health): University of Cape Town • PhD (Doctorate in Medicine): University of Cape Town