Professor Daynia Ballot

I am a full Professor at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), former Head of the Neonatal Unit/ Paediatric ICU at Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital (CMJAH) and Head of the School of Clinical Medicine at Wits. I completed my MBBCh at Wits in 1982 and worked as a Research Fellow with Prof Thomas Bothwell in the Iron and Red Cell Metabolic Unit in 1984. I completed my PhD in 1989. I qualified as a paediatrician with the FCPaeds in 1990 and registered as a neonatologist in 1993. I was appointed as a specialist in the Neonatal/ Paediatric Intensive Care unit at CMJAH in 1990 and a principal specialist in 2001. I was promoted to Associate Professor at Wits in 2002, and full Professor in 2019. I enjoy clinical work, but also have a strong interest in research and training. I have supervised 22 MMeds, 9 MSc and 1 PhD to completion. I am currently supervising or co-supervising an additional 30 postgraduate students (22 MMed, 5 MSc and 3 PhD). I have a C2 rating with the National Research Foundation rated researcher. I have over 90 DHET accredited publications and four book chapters, with several more publications under consideration. I completed 137 peer reviews for national and international journals and was rated one of the top ten peer reviewers in South Africa in 2017. I have raised more than R 7 million in grants for my research program Project to Improve Neonatal Care (PRINCE) which was recognized at Faculty level in July 2016.
I served two terms on the council of the College of Paediatricians of South Africa. I have been an examiner/ convener and moderator for both the FCP part 1 and the certificate in Neonatology for the College of Paediatricians of South Africa. I am an internal and external examiner for both MMed and PhD degrees.
I served as chair of the Wits Paediatric Fund from 2001 to 2018 and received both the Wits Volunteer and Vice Chancellor’s Academic Citizenship for that role. I was awarded a service excellence award for neonatal care by CMJAH in 2016. I completed both my undergraduate and postgraduate training at the University of the Witwatersrand. I was appointed assistant head of the School of Clinical Medicine at Wits in January 2017, head of cluster C (Paediatrics, Obstetrics and Family Medicine). I was appointed Head of the School of Clinical Medicine in October 2017. We have four children and I have always tried to balance family life with an academic career. Two of our children are students at Wits – in Medicine and Engineering, and one has recently graduated.