Dr Derrick Sekgala

Junior Research Fellow

Research Project(s)

  • HEY BABY (Helping Empower Youth Brought up in Adversity with their Babies and Young children.)

Research Interests

  • Sexual and reproductive health and rights
  • Healthy Lifestyle Infectious and Non-Communicable Disease Prevention
  • Nutrition-related disorders

Biography

Dr. Machoene Derrick Sekgala holds a PhD in Public Health from the University of the Western Cape (UWC). He is currently working on the HEY BABY project at the Adolescent Accelerate Research Hub (AARHub) under the Centre for Social Science Research (CSSR) at the University of Cape Town (UCT).  His responsibilities include contributing to and supporting adolescent health and well-being research, with a particular focus on adolescent mothers and adolescents living with or affected by HIV. Derrick contributes to the Hub’s research portfolio, which employs both quantitative and qualitative/participatory research methods, and he will co-lead a component of an adolescent-focused research project, applying the relevant methodologies.

His main tasks involve supporting research conceptualisation, data collection, analysis, management, and the mentorship and supervision of research assistants and students. He also supports grant reporting, application processes, and the dissemination of research findings. Derrick completed his internship training at the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) and his postdoctoral fellowship at the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC), where he contributed to various research projects. In his personal life, he enjoys exercising and jogging in the rain.

 Derrick Sekgala's CV

Recent Publications

  • Sekgala, M.D., Sewpaul, R., Kengne, A.P. et al. Clinical utility of novel anthropometric indices in identifying type 2 diabetes mellitus among South African adult females. BMC Public Health 24, 2676 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-024-20168-7
  • Choshi, J., Hanser, S., Mabhida, S.E. Sekgala, M.D., et al. A systematic review assessing the association of inflammatory markers with kidney dysfunction in people living with HIV on highly active antiretroviral therapy. BMC Infect Dis 24, 776 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12879-024-09594-5
  • Mmethi, T.G.; Modjadji, P.; Mathibe, M.; Thovhogi, N.; Sekgala, M.D.; Madiba, T.K.; Ayo-Yusuf, O. Substance Use among School-Going Adolescents and Young