Tania Samantha Douglas (1969–2021): Biomedical engineer, academic and leader

Ernesta M. Meintjes

doi:10.17159/sajs.2021/11067

Abstract

Tania Samantha Douglas (1969–2021): Biomedical engineer, academic and leader

Highlights

Tania’s untimely death, after an extended battle with cancer, came as a tremendous blow to her colleagues and students at the University of Cape Town (UCT), and to many friends and collaborators further afield
Tania excelled in all spheres of academia. She headed up a large research group, trained and graduated more than 50 master’s and doctoral students, mentored postdoctoral fellows and junior staff, published extensively in leading international journals, and taught and developed courses. Her scholarly contributions were recognised through numerous awards, including research fellowships from the International Institute for Theoretical Physics in Trieste, Italy; the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in Germany; the Erasmus Mundus programme of the European Union; and Female Academic/Researcher of the Year by the IEEE Women in Engineering South Africa section
In 2019, she was recognised at the South African Women in Science Awards as Distinguished Woman Researcher in Research and Innovation, and in 2018 as a Quartz Africa Innovator. She was elected a Fellow by the South African Academy of Engineering, the International Academy of Medical and Biological Engineering, and the University of Cape Town, and as a member of the Academy of Science of South Africa

Summary

Introduction

Tania’s untimely death, after an extended battle with cancer, came as a tremendous blow to her colleagues and students at the University of Cape Town (UCT), and to many friends and collaborators further afield. AFFILIATION: 1Division of Biomedical Engineering, Department of Human Biology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa Tania Samantha Douglas (1969–2021): Biomedical engineer, academic and leader

Results

Conclusion