Dr Sheetal Silal is one of three UCT researchers presenting at this year’s IdeasLab.

Three researchers from the University of Cape Town (UCT) will lead this year’s discussions on innovative research into infectious diseases at the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) IdeasLab. 

The IdeasLab is on the programme of the WEF 13th Annual Meeting of the New Champions 2019, which takes place from 1 to 3 July in Dalian, China. And because the three presenters are from UCT, the university is regarded as “hosting” this year’s talk.

Drs Sheetal Silal, Elmi Muller and Nadia Ikumi will each discuss an area of their research. They will do so using an adapted version of Pecha Kucha storytelling: Each presenter has just six minutes to go through 15 slides, with a maximum of 20 seconds spent on each slide.

They will present their research to industry leaders, chief executives of top-ranked multinational corporations, heads of government and ministers and leaders from media, academia and civil society.

Previous hosts have included Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Story:  Carla Bernardo

Photo: Robyn Walker