VICE CHANCELLOR’S RESEARCH AWARDS VC’S SENIOR RESEARCHER AWARDS OVERALL WINNER: Professor Blessing Aderibigbe Professor Blessing Aderibigbe of the Department of Chemistry is an organic/ polymer chemist with a special interest in the design of systems for multi-drug delivery and polymer-based wound dressings loaded with plant-based extracts and essential oils. The goal of her current research is to design hybrid molecules for targeted drug delivery which have reduced toxic effects. Rated C2 by the National Research Foundation (NRF), Professor Aderibigbe’s research has resulted in contributions to no fewer than 87 journal articles and 42 book chapters, in many cases as lead author. She has also participated in conferences held nationally and internationally, travelling to places as diverse as Kerala in India and New Orleans in the United States in order to do so. Professor Aderibigbe has been the recipient of two NRF postdoctoral fellowships and, in 2007, received a special award from the Parenteral Drug Association, an organisation devoted to providing information to the pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical community. Professor Blessing Aderibigbe One of her current research projects, involving collaboration with colleagues from the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and the University of the Witwatersrand, is funded by the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition’s Technology and Human Resources for Industry Programme (THRIP). 69 | University of Fort Hare