Genomics for justice

Prof Shahida Moosa brings cutting- edge diagnostics to the continent’s most vulnerable patients

- Jamaine Krige

It was in a neonatal ward that a young medical officer encountered a puzzle that would reshape her career and help transform genomic medicine across Africa.

"It was a genetic diagnosis, and from that moment, I never looked back," recalls Prof Shahida Moosa, winner of the NSTF-SAMRC Clinician-Scientist Award. “That experience showed me the profound power of a diagnosis — not only for the child, but for the entire family.”

Now head of medical genetics at Tygerberg Hospital and Stellenbosch University, Moosa is creating spaces where patient care and scientific discovery go hand in hand. With her team, she is working to ensure African families are not left behind in the global genomics movement — even when conditions are rare and answers hard to find.