This is reflected in the innovations we've developed, especially in healthcare. Nowhere is this more evident than in healthcare, where science meets care, and people are at the heart of health innovation.

Across NWU, researchers, clinicians, students and partners are working together to advance healthcare through innovation, collaboration and evidence-based research. Their work focuses on more than discovery; it translates knowledge into solutions that improve lives, strengthen healthcare systems, and contribute to healthier communities.

From laboratories and clinics to communities and classrooms, NWU’s health innovation spans vaccine development, artificial intelligence and digital health, biomedical research, diabetes in children, child-friendly tuberculosis medicines, nutrition science, brain health, and chronic disease management.

Behind every breakthrough is a human story. It is about finding better ways to diagnose and treat disease, developing solutions that are accessible to patients, supporting healthcare professionals and creating knowledge that can make a meaningful difference-in South Africa and beyond.

This is the impact of health innovation at NWU: turning curiosity into knowledge, knowledge into action and action into better health outcomes.

Explore how the people of NWU are shaping the future of healthcare through innovation, collaboration and care. Discover the stories behind NWU health innovation: https://health-sciences.nwu.ac.za/heartbeat-of-health

 It all starts here!

The South African healthcare environment is under pressure – can technology lighten the load? Mid-Morning Magic’s Yolanda Maartens is joined by Sabelile Tenza, an Associate Professor at the North-West University (NWU) and a researcher within the NuMIQ research entity. Prof Tenza’s research focuses on the pressures that can make safe, consistent patient care difficult to deliver, and on the prospect that technology can improve patient care and healthcare as a whole.

Prof. Elmari Deacon is 'n kliniese sielkundige en professor aan die Noordwes-Universiteit. Haar navorsing fokus op gesondheidsielkunde, positiewe sielkunde en die psigososiale aanpassing in diabetesbestuur. Haar werk ondersoek onder meer hoe jongmense diabetes verstaan en beleef, hoe denke, emosies, gedrag, veerkragtigheid en ondersteuning hul selfbestuur beïnvloed, en hoe hierdie insigte in meer mensgesentreerde ondersteuning en intervensies omgesit kan word.