Treading the tightrope of healthy living : pondering heart metabolism's balancing act
Date
2011-09
Authors
Essop, Faadiel
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University
Abstract
Prof Faadiel Essop is the current chairperson of the Depart -
ment of Physiological Sciences at Stellenbosch University. He
hails from a strong rural background; he was born in Ceres and
grew up in Paarl (Western Cape, South Africa). He completed
his undergraduate studies (biochemistry and microbiology
majors) and PhD degree (medical biosciences) at the University
of Cape Town (UCT). He also completed (part-time basis) a BA
Hons degree (Arabic) at the University of the Western Cape.
After postdoctoral fellowship stints at UCT and the University of
Leeds, he joined the Hatter Cardiovascular Research Institute at
UCT’s Faculty of Health Sciences (1998). During this time he
focused on mechanisms driving the onset of cardiac hypertrophy and the effects of
hypoxia on the heart. He was also appointed to the board of the Medical Research
Council of South Africa by the Minister of Health (1998–2000). Prof Essop was
awarded the prestigious Fulbright fellowship (2005–2006) to spend time in Prof
Heinrich Taegtmeyer’s laboratory at the University of Texas-Houston Medical School.
During February 2007, he joined the Department of Physiological Sciences at
Stellenbosch University as an associate professor and was promoted to full professor
in 2011. At Stellenbosch University he established the Cardio-Metabolic Research
Group that focuses on altered fuel substrate metabolism and its contribution to the
onset of type 2 diabetes and heart failure. Prof Essop and his students have received
several awards over the last few years. He has published 42 peer-reviewed papers and
supervised six PhD, five MSc and four postdoctoral students. He is married to Dr
Rehana Essop and they have three children, Ziyaad, Aaliyah and Yasin.
Description
Inaugural lecture delivered September 2011.
Keywords
Healthy living, Heart metabolism
Citation
Essop, F. 2011. Treading the tightrope of healthy living : pondering heart metabolism's balancing act. Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, South Africa.