Alumni
A connected world
Our greatest export
From South Africa to every corner of the globe, the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences has spent seventy years producing graduates who lead, innovate, and make history. They have headed hospitals and health ministries, pioneered surgical techniques, and helped shape the policies that define healthcare delivery across the continent — carrying the values instilled here into every role they have taken on.
From here to everywhere
The 1950s & 1960s — The founding generation
The faculty's earliest cohorts graduated into a South Africa that was building its academic health infrastructure almost from scratch. At the time, our work focused less on large-scale research breakthroughs and more on building the foundations of modern medical training and clinical services in the region — laying the bedrock that everything since has been built upon.
The 1970s — Specialists who built a discipline
Prof Gerhard Walzl — Internationally acclaimed TB researcher · SARChI Chair in Tuberculosis Biomarkers
Gerhard Walzl trained in medicine at the University of Pretoria and specialised at Stellenbosch and Tygerberg Hospital, later completing a PhD in immunology at Imperial College London. He returned to Tygerberg, shaping both his career and the field.
A research role — initially a fallback — led to the creation of the Stellenbosch University Immunology Research Group, now with over 130 scientists across six labs. He holds two TB diagnostic patents, has supervised 30+ postgraduates, and developed a finger-prick TB test suited to community use. An NRF A-rated researcher, Walzl leads the SARChI Chair in Tuberculosis Biomarkers; his team was among the first to move into the BMRI in 2023.
The 1980s — A new South Africa, new medicine
Prof Dan Stein (1962–2025) — Internationally acclaimed psychiatrist and neuroscientist · PhD & DPhil, Stellenbosch University
Dan Stein studied medicine at the University of Cape Town, but it was at Stellenbosch that he earned doctorates in clinical neuroscience and philosophy, launching one of Africa's most distinguished scientific careers.
After psychiatry training in the United States, he returned to South Africa post-apartheid to found the MRC Unit on Anxiety and Stress Disorders at Stellenbosch — the country's first dedicated mental health research unit. The unit led the South African Stress and Health Study, the continent's first nationally representative survey of mental disorders, at a time when mental health was largely absent from the public agenda.
Stein later chaired international workgroups shaping global diagnostic frameworks for OCD and trauma-related disorders. He authored more than 1 600 peer-reviewed publications and remained one of Africa's most-cited researchers until his death in December 2025.
The 1990s — Surgical firsts
Prof André van der Merwe — Head of Urology, SU & Tygerberg Hospital · MBChB, Stellenbosch University
André van der Merwe grew up in the small Northern Cape town of Sutherland, dreaming of becoming an astronomer. He ended up charting rather different territory. After completing his MBChB at Stellenbosch, he trained further in urology at the University of Cape Town, the Royal College of Surgeons in London, and the College of Medicine of South Africa, before returning to the Faculty as head of the Division of Urology.
On 11 December 2014, after years of careful planning, Van der Merwe led a surgical team in a nine-hour procedure to perform the world's first successful penile transplant. The patient, who had lost his penis due to complications of traditional circumcision, regained full function within months. While globally celebrated, the work addressed a stark local reality: each year, many young South African men suffer similar injuries.
The 2000s — Africa's science on the world stage
Prof Novel Njweipi Chegou — Professor of Molecular Biology and Human Genetics · 2022 Royal Society Africa Prize winner · MSc & PhD, Stellenbosch University
Novel Chegou's path to Tygerberg began with a long walk through a Cameroonian forest to school, and continued with train commutes from a Stellenbosch market stall, where he sold crafts to fund his studies. In 2005, while completing his honours degree — where he was named South Africa's top biochemistry and molecular biology honours student — he split his days between selling beadwork and attending classes at Tygerberg.
He is now a professor in the Department of Biomedical Sciences, leading the Diagnostics Research Laboratory within the SU Immunology Research Group. His work focuses on developing faster, cheaper, more accurate TB diagnostics — particularly for children and resource-limited settings — with patented tests in use globally.
In 2022, the Royal Society awarded him the Africa Prize for his contributions to TB research, recognising a journey from a forest path in Cameroon to one of science's highest honours.
The 2010s — Evidence that changes policy
Prof Taryn Young — Distinguished Professor · Director, Centre for Evidence-based Health Care · PhD, Stellenbosch University
Taryn Young completed her doctoral degree in public health at Stellenbosch and built a career at the Faculty that has quietly shaped health policy across Africa and beyond. As Director of the Centre for Evidence-based Health Care and Head of the Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, she has dedicated her work to a principle that sounds simple but is surprisingly rare in practice: that health decisions should be based on the best available evidence.
Her research has contributed to Cochrane reviews — the gold-standard systematic reviews used by clinicians, policymakers, and the World Health Organisation to guide treatment decisions globally. A member of the Academy of Science of South Africa, she has co-authored over 100 peer-reviewed publications.
In a landscape where research often fails to reach the people who need it most, Young has focused on building the systems and capacities that allow evidence to travel from journals to policy documents to clinics.
The 2020s — The next generation arrives
Dr David Obagbuwa — One of South Africa's youngest-ever medical graduates · MBChB, Stellenbosch University, 2025
David Obagbuwa was born in Nigeria, moved to South Africa at age eleven, and enrolled in Stellenbosch University's MBChB programme at fifteen — navigating a global pandemic, social isolation, and the psychological weight of being the youngest person in every room he entered. In December 2025, at the age of 21, he graduated as one of the youngest medical doctors in South African history.
His story is not simply one of academic precocity. It is a story about what the FMHS represents at its best: a faculty that draws students from across the continent, surrounds them with world-class training, and sends them back out into the communities that need them. Dr Obagbuwa has been placed for his internship in Gauteng's East Rand, where he plans to explore specialisation and research.
The 2030s — Make your mark
The next chapter is yours.
Every decade in this faculty's history has been shaped by people who arrived as students and left as something more. Researchers. Surgeons. Scholars. Leaders. The 2030s will be the same — written by students who haven't yet walked through these doors.
Whose story will be told here in 2035?
From here to everywhere
Next: Teaching and learning
From individual journeys to a shared future — discover what comes next.