Event Date
Abstract
Access to timely and accurate diagnostics remains a critical barrier to effective healthcare delivery in resource-limited settings, where clinical laboratories are scarce, and healthcare systems are often overstretched. In these contexts, disease detection and monitoring rely heavily on point-of-care (POC) diagnostic technologies that are affordable, portable, and easy to deploy outside conventional clinical environments. Recent advances in biophotonics have positioned optical spectroscopy as a powerful, non-invasive tool across medical diagnostics, life sciences, pharmaceuticals, food safety, and security applications. Despite this promise, the widespread adoption of spectroscopy-based diagnostics has been constrained by the size, cost, and complexity of conventional spectrometers.
This seminar presents emerging strategies for overcoming these limitations by converging miniaturized photonic platforms, computational spectroscopy, and artificial intelligence. This presentation highlights how machine learning models integrated with optical sensing can compensate for hardware constraints, enabling rapid, robust, and instrument-light POC systems. Case studies will be discussed, spanning infectious and non-communicable disease detection, identification of substandard and falsified medicines, and applications in food quality and safety. Collectively, these advances illustrate how AI-enabled photonics can accelerate the translation of spectroscopy from the laboratory to real-world POC diagnostics, with relevance for global health, decentralized care, and equitable access to diagnostics.
Biography:
Prof Patience Mthunzi-Kufa (OMB) is a photonics expert with a PhD in Physics (2010) from the University of St. Andrews, Scotland, UK. She is currently employed as a Distinguished Professor at the College of Science, Engineering, and Technology, leading the Centre for Photonics at the University of South Africa (UNISA). She is an internationally recognised, multi-award-winning scientist who previously started and led the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR’s) Biophotonics Research group, where lasers of different types were used to develop novel photonics-based point-of-care (POC) diagnostic devices. These devices enable early interventions (before the occurrence of complex symptoms) through accurate diagnosis and treatment of patients. Her team worked on the construction of laser-based rapid POC diagnostics for HIV/TB/ Covid-19 as well as devises for screening counterfeit drugs. The primary objective of this research was to develop laser light-driven diagnostic devices for detecting biological and chemical molecules. She secured over R150 million (roughly $9 million USD) in research grants for projects performed by the Biophotonics group, including the establishment of the Biophotonics facility at the CSIR.
Prof Mthunzi-Kufa’s work has led to multiple patents, published outputs, and technology demonstrators. Among her accolades are the Order of Mapungubwe in Bronze (2012) as the youngest recipient, and several others, such as the TechWomen Award (2014), TED Fellowship (2015), DSTI SAWiSA award (2023), and the prestigious “Science Oscar” - TW Kambule - NSTF Award (2024). She holds leadership roles in various National Science and Innovation advisory committees and serves on key international photonics and science committees, advocating for innovation, scientific excellence, and diversity in STEM. Some of these include serving as the Deputy Chairperson of the new Advisory Council on National Orders, an appointment by President Cyril Ramaphosa; being the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) Photonics Working Group as the Nodal point, Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE – Committee Member and Student Chapter Advisor), member of the SPIE Membership and Communities Committee, L’Oréal Women in Science Awards, (Jury President), Chair for the IEEE Photonics Diversity Overseeing Committee as well as the Institute for the Preparedness and Prevention of Pandemics (IP3) Steering Committee member. Notably, Mthunzi-Kufa enjoys growing with others, particularly by promoting previously disadvantaged candidates. In recognition of her outreach activities and contribution to the Sowetan community, the Department of Basic Education named the Block of Science within the Curtis Nkondo School of Specialisation after her. She has also supervised several postgraduate students, many of whom graduated Cum Laude.