Busisiwe Purity Ncama

Professor Ncama, PhD is the Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Head of College of Health Sciences at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN). She previously held the position of Dean and Head of School: Nursing and Public Health, UKZN. She holds a BCur degree from UNISA, a PhD in Health Sciences, and a Master’s in Business Administration and Masters in Nursing, all from UKZN.

Prof. Ncama spent a year as a Fogarty Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at CAPRISA (2005-2006). She worked with the group on the study of “HIV/ AIDS Sero-incidence among STI attendees” and during that period received a grant from the National Research Foundation for a project titled “Evaluation of HIV Testing Models Utilized in The Prince Cyril Zulu STI Clinic.”

She is an NRF C3-rated researcher. She has published over 85 peer-reviewed journal papers, 3 book chapters and 3 research reports. Her research interests are on systems of care at a community level; with a view towards health systems strengthening.

Prof Ncama received a UKZN Distinguished Teacher award in 2007. She has taught in other countries such as the United Arab Emirates and Seychelles and developed HIV/ AIDS Nursing Curricula for use in East Africa. She has supervised to completion of 15 PhD students, 1 Full Research Masters, 8 Coursework Masters and 3 Honours students.

Prof Ncama is currently a member of the Sustainable and Healthy Food Systems (SHEFS) programme, an interdisciplinary research partnership driven by nine international partners supported by the Wellcome Trust. She is a Sigma Thetha Tau International Honour Society for Nurses and UCSF International HIV/ Aids Network to name a few. She was the Director of UKZN’s World Health Collaborating Centre (WHO) for Community Problem Solving in Nursing and Midwifery in Africa.