Born: 20 October 1951, Lesotho
Died: NA
Country most active: South Africa
Also known as: NA
South African chemist and professor Tebello Nyokong is helping to pioneer a safer method of cancer detection and photodynamic therapy, a treatment without the harmful side effects of chemotherapy. With her studies, she demonstrates how photodynamic therapy (PDT), a combination of light ans specific photosensitive substances, can be used to create toxins that kill cancerous cells without harming others. Her approach is less invasive than surgery and causes no long-term side effects. In 2007, she was one of the country’s top three publishing scientists, and in 2013 she received the National Research Foundation’s Lifetime Achievement Award. She has received the Presidency of South Africa’s Order of Mapungubwe in Bronze, the South African Chemical Institute Gold Medal in 2012, and the the UNESCO L’Oréal Award and was named one of the top 10 most influential women in science and technology in Africa by IT News Africa.