MIND Fellows

“MIND is a chance to collaborate on fundamental cutting-edge (AI) research to solve global problems and fulfil local needs.”

Email: ritesh.ajoodha@wits.ac.za

Ritesh Ajoodha is an Associate Professor of Computer Science at Wits University. He earned his PhD in Computer Science in 2018, focusing on machine learning. His research interests revolve around four key themes in explainable artificial intelligence (XAI).

In 2020, he also completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Higher Education at Wits. In addition to his academic achievements, Ajoodha holds a degree in Western classical piano music performance (LTCL, 2015) from Trinity College, London.

Currently, Ajoodha serves as the Director of the Wits Explainable AI Laboratory and as the Focus Area Coordinator for Machine Intelligence and Learning from Experience at the Centre of Excellence in Mathematical and Statistical Sciences (CoE-MaSS) at Wits.

He is also the first to design and teach a course focused on Probabilistic Graphical Models in South Africa. This framework is widely used in machine learning to model explainable complex relationships and dependencies among variables.

Distinguished Professor Bruce Bassett

“It is very exciting to be part of MIND at its inception and I look forward to many amazing cross-disciplinary projects emerging that tackle the pressing problems facing the world.

The latest AI models are hugely expensive, costing $100M and needing 100 MW of electricity to train. Africa cannot easily compete with this. But the human brain runs on just 30W of power, so profound intelligence is possible with small power consumption. By bringing together researchers working on all branches of intelligence MIND has the opportunity to unlock some of the secrets of low-power natural intelligence?and apply them to AI.”

Email: bruce.a.bassett@gmail.com

Bruce Bassett is a Distinguished Professor of Computer Science at Wits University and Professor of Applied Mathematics at the University of Cape Town. He was the former head of data science at SARAO.

Originally a cosmologist, Bassett's research since 2013 has focused on the theory and applications of artificial intelligence and Bayesian statistical methods applied to NLP, fundamental science and health.

Bassett has co-founded several AI-related startups and has consulted locally and internationally with governments and industry.

Dr Hairong Bau

“It is a privilege to be part of this community that aspires to collaborate and contribute to cutting-edge research, and ultimately, to tackle real-world challenges with impactful solutions.”

Email: hairong.bau@wits.ac.za

Dr Hairong Bau is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Computer Science and Applied Mathematics at Wits University, where she also earned her PhD in Computer Science. Her research interests span the fields of image processing, computer vision, and pattern recognition.

Dr Martin Bekker

“Let's go!”

Email: martin.bekker@wits.ac.za

Dr Martin Bekker is a computational social scientist and AI ethics researcher, lecturing in ethics and social science at the School of Electronic and Information Engineering at Wits University.

Bekker holds degrees in Values Studies and Philosophy from Stellenbosch University, Peace Studies from Bradford University, Development from the London School of Economics, and a PhD from the University of Johannesburg.

Previously, Bekker was head of the Royal Bafokeng Administration demographic and household survey research team and served on the World Economic Forum’s advisory panel for sustainable mining and minerals.

Dr Sahba Besharati

“We aim to foster talent and diversity in discipline and region for global impact.”

Email: sahba@besharati.com

Dr Sahba Besharati is a neuropsychologist and social-affective neuroscientist. She is the co-founder and Joint Director of Wits University’s Neuroscience Research Laboratory – Wits NeuRL – which aims to promote neuroscience research conducted in the South African context.

Besharati is a C1-rated researcher of the South African National Research Foundation (NRF), and in 2021, she was named a Global Scholar for the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR) in the Brain, Mind and Consciousness Program. She serves on the Editorial Board for Communications Biology with the Nature Springer group and for the American Psychological Association (APA) journal Neuropsychology.

She completed a collaborative PhD in neuropsychology at King’s College London and the University of Cape Town, having previously trained in psychological research and clinical neuropsychology.

Her research draws on interdisciplinary methods to address questions of how we become aware of ourselves and others in the world and how our environment influences this construction of the self in clinical and healthy populations over the life course. She is actively involved in capacity building in neuroscience for underrepresented researchers.

Distinguished Professor Robert Breiman

“What we learn together in this scholarly deep dive into intelligence will take us into new frontiers for Africa, as well as globally, transforming academia and scientific discovery yielding pathways towards a wide range of benefits for the planet and its inhabitants.

As the research from IDORI, the Wits Infectious Diseases and Oncology Research Institute pushes the envelopes of discovery and impact on health in Africa and globally, MIND will play an integral role in such areas as designing affordable screening tests for identifying cancers early enough for effective treatment, guiding conventional diagnostics and therapy to general practitioners in locations without oncologists, and identifying new and feasible approaches for prevention and therapy for cancers in Africa, among many other concepts.”

Email: robert.breiman@wits.ac.za

Distinguished Professor Robert Breiman is the Interim Director of the new Wits Infectious Diseases and Oncology Research Institute (IDORI).

Before joining Wits, Breiman was the Director of the Emory University Global Health Institute and the overall Principal Investigator (PI) for the Child Health and Mortality Prevention Surveillance (CHAMPS) network, which provides an array of new insights into targetable causes of neonatal, infant, and child deaths in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.

He is co-PI for an NIH-funded Center for Research on Emerging Infectious Diseases in East and Central Africa (CREID-ECA) and the PI for the BMGF-funded Scientific Advisory Process for Optimal Research on Typhoid fever disease burden (SAPORT).

Breiman trained in internal medicine and infectious diseases at UCLA. He was with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for 26 years (until 2013), where he focused on pneumonia, diarrheal disease, immunisations, emerging infections, and urbanisation.

He was elected to the U.S. National Academy of Medicine (2017) and the American Epidemiological Society (1996). He is a Fellow of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) as well as the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH). According to Google Scholar, Breiman’s publications have over 68,000 citations with an h-index of 130.

Dr Mary Carman

“It's exciting to be part of an Institute that recognises the insights and perspectives that different disciplines can bring to a holistic understanding of intelligence, of all sorts.”

Email: mary.carman@wits.ac.za

Dr Mary Carman is a Senior Lecturer in Philosophy whose main specialization lies in the philosophy of mind and action.

She is particularly interested in understanding how emotion features in human rationality and intelligence. One of her driving projects is to develop a robust conception of rational agency that acknowledges our emotional nature and can incorporate emotions into an account of how we act rationally in many cases.

Through this work, she also explores the social and political dimensions of emotions, which has led indirectly to another research stream in the ethics of artificial intelligence (AI).

Before joining Wits in 2018, she completed a PhD at King’s College London and held postdoctoral positions at Wits and the Swiss Centre for Affective Sciences, University of Geneva.

Professor Kate Cockcroft

“The MIND Institute is a formalisation of the current cross-disciplinary collaborations and research taking place and will create a space for future cutting-edge research that considers elements of cognition across animals, humans and machines on key features of intelligent behaviour such as problem-solving.”

Email: kate.cockcroft@wits.ac.za

Kate Cockcroft is a Professor in the Department of Psychology at Wits University, where she obtained her PhD.

She holds dual registrations with the Health Professions Council of South Africa in the categories of Neuropsychology and Research Psychology and has many years of experience teaching undergraduate and postgraduate courses in cognitive psychology, neuropsychology, cognitive neuroscience, developmental psychology and psychological assessment.

Cockcroft’s scholarly work addresses theoretical and practical issues of local and global relevance related to the relationship between executive functioning and multilingualism, the malleability of executive functions, as well as valid and fair ways of assessing these abilities.

She is an executive editor of the African Journal of Psychological Assessment, a member of the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf) and co-leader of the Wits Neuroscience Research Lab (Wits NeuRL).

Dr Mitchell A. Cox

“I'm stoked to contribute to building a strong interdisciplinary community at Wits and look forward to applying my expertise in optics and engineering to collaborate with others in building all-optical AI.”

Email: mitchell.cox@wits.ac.za

Dr Mitchell A. Cox is the co-founder of the?Wits Optical Communication Lab?(Wits OC Lab) in the School of Electrical and Information Engineering.

He holds a PhD in Electrical Engineering from Wits University and is an Optica Ambassador and a Senior Member of the IEEE. In 2023 he was honoured with the Friedel Sellschop Award.

Cox applies his expertise in structured light and engineering skills to pioneer solutions for long-range, low-cost free-space optical communications. These solutions often involve the creative use of low-cost components in ways not originally intended by their manufacturers - and the application of technologies.

With his wide-ranging and deep interests, Cox is committed to using his research to help bridge the digital divide. He aims to make high-speed internet access available globally, beginning with his home in South Africa - acknowledging the role of taxpayer funding in his endeavours.

Dr Joshua Davimes

“The MIND fellowship brings me excitement, a drive to discover more, and the potential of fantastic cross-disciplinary collaboration.”

Email: joshua.davimes@wits.ac.za

His research interests include human and comparative neuroscience, with a primary focus on sleep. His current research focuses on the effects of shift work on sleep health in frontline emergency response personnel, including ambulance paramedics, emergency room doctors, and private security personnel.

Davimes' research aims to investigate sleep patterns in individuals who work in extreme occupations or places, especially within the African context, where resources are limited, staff are in shortage, and exposure to trauma, violence, and workload is elevated compared to developed nations.

Associate Professor Aline Ferreira-Correia

“I am excited to be part of a multidisciplinary team that will dedicate their talents to improve our understanding of the mind within and beyond the brain.”

Email: aline.ferreiracorreia@wits.ac.za

Aline Ferreira-Correia is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at Wits University. She is an NRF-rated researcher (Y1) and holds dual registrations with the Health Professions Council of South Africa in the Clinical Psychology and Neuropsychology categories. Her research and clinical interests include neuropsychological assessment in multicultural contexts and the neuropsychology of movement disorders and rare genetic diseases.

Eleni Flack-Davison

“Being a MIND Fellow is mind-blowing as it will be a journey of exploration of something that we have all been grappling with. MIND is unlocking the new possibilities in understanding, research and innovation. It is an opportunity to contribute to research which will potentially bridge the gap between human intelligence and machine learning. It is to shape the future but have an impact on research and innovation for the public good.”

Email: eleni.flack-davison@wits.ac.za

Eleni Flack-Davison, BA LLB LLM, an Admitted attorney of the High Court of South Africa, Legal Adviser, Research Compliance Manager, Head: Office of Research Integrity and the Research Data Protection Officer at Wits University.

As the legal adviser for the Research Office: Legal Services, she provides legal services and legal advice to the senior management of Wits University, academics and researchers, that enables research and innovation through research contracts as well as the management and operation of the Research Office: Legal Services.

She encourages high-quality research integrity as well as ethics in the sphere of research. This includes but is not limited to supervision, management, and oversight of the University Research Ethics Committees and management of the Ethics administrative personnel. Wits has five University Research Ethics Committees that deal with Non-Medical, Medical, Animal Ethics Screening and Control, Biobanks, Clinical Drug Trials, and Institutional Biosafety.

Flack-Davison sits on a number of University Management, Senate and Advisory Committees internal to Wits University. She held positions at various local and international research ethics and integrity associations and committees, and received the joint Excellence Award for Professional Excellence in Research Management at the SARIMA Conference in 2024.

Professor Iginio Gagliardone

“The MIND Institute is an opportunity to shape distinctive trajectories of innovation across disciplines, to connect with diverse forms of knowledge, and to deepen my own as well as our collective understanding of how technology and politics interact.”

Email: iginio.gagliardone@wits.ac.za

Iginio Gagliardone is Professor of Media Studies at Wits University. He is the author of "Countering Online Hate Speech" (2015), “The Politics of Technology in Africa” (2016) and “China, Africa, and the Future of the Internet” (2019). His most recent work examines the international politics of Artificial Intelligence and the emergence of new imageries and materialities of technological evolution in Africa and the Global South.

Dr Branden Ingram

“Joining MIND represents a unique opportunity to collaborate with brilliant minds across disciplines.”

Email: branden.ingram@wits.ac.za

Dr Branden Ingram is a lecturer in the School of Computer and Applied Mathematics at Wits University.

He is a member of the?RAIL?(Robotics, Autonomous Intelligence and Learning) lab at Wits. His research is focused on the intersections of machine learning, robotics, and video games. With expertise in machine learning, his work explores how AI can enhance adaptive gameplay and how human-computer interaction can be furthered in the realm of robotics.

Dr Steven James

“Joining the MIND Institute is a remarkable opportunity to drive the development of AI in Africa, helping to position the continent as a beacon of innovation in machine intelligence.”

Emai: steven.james@wits.ac.za

Dr Steven James is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Computer Science and Applied Mathematics at Wits University. He holds a PhD from Wits and was the first African recipient of a Google PhD Fellowship in Machine Learning.

As the Deputy Director of?the?RAIL?(Robotics, Autonomous Intelligence and Learning) lab, his interests revolve around reinforcement learning and planning, with a specific focus on creating general agents capable of learning and reusing knowledge over their lifetimes.

Associate Lecturer Devon Jarvis

“Being a Founding Fellow of MIND is the biggest honour of my career. It's a very exciting time to be at Wits and I am privileged to be included in such a prestigious group of colleagues and friends.”

Email: devon.jarvis@wits.ac.za

Devon Jarvis is an Associate Lecturer in the School of Computer Science and Applied Mathematics at Wits University. On a Commonwealth Scholarship, he was previously a visiting researcher at the Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Unit and Sainsbury Wellcome Centre at UCL.

He is also completing a PhD in Computational Neuroscience with Professor Benjamin Rosman, Associate Professor Richard Klein and Dr Andrew Saxe, supported by the Google PhD Fellowship mentored by Dr Gamaleldin Elsayed.

His research focuses on understanding the meso-scale structure of the brain and how these structures function computationally and algorithmically to learn high-level concepts from low-level sensory inputs. He aims to understand how these concepts then afford the brain the ability to systematically generalise, perform context-sensitive, controlled semantic cognition and support goal-oriented decision-making.

Associate Professor Ismail S Kalla

“Joining MIND as a Founding Fellow is an exhilarating opportunity to bridge disciplines and push the boundaries of our understanding of intelligence. It's a chance to collaborate with brilliant minds, challenge our perspectives, and contribute to groundbreaking research that could reshape our approach to human, machine, and animal cognition. For me, it represents a unique platform to turn interdisciplinary curiosity into tangible scientific progress.”

Email: ismail.kalla@wits.ac.za

Ismail S Kalla is an Associate Professor in the Division of Pulmonology and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, School of Clinical Medicine at Wits University. He is the Academic Head of the Department for Internal Medicine.

He has a dual certification in Pulmonology and Critical Care Medicine. His academic portfolio’s primary focus is redeveloping the undergraduate medical platform and introducing artificial intelligence as a teaching and evaluation tool in the undergraduate and post-graduate platforms.

He is the Principal Investigator for several multinational collaborative studies on Covid patients, and a senior member of a research unit dedicated to ɳ��_2024ŷ�ޱ��app@ research. He has published in several national and international journals on the impact of SARS-Cov-2 in South Africa.

Kalla has a dedicated Pulmonary Infectious Disease Research Unit and is doing several collaborative studies on MDRO pathogens and resistant fungal infections. He is also part of a national collaboration in the study of Pulmonary Hypertension and part of a national group of investigators attempting to validate a new diagnostic test for the diagnosis of extra-pulmonary tuberculosis.

Professor Geci Karuri-Sebina

“For me, the MIND Institute Fellows Programme is a unique opportunity to collaborate with leading minds to explore how we can harness AI for the public good in Africa, with meaningful purpose, depth and quality. It’s an opportunity to transcend my silo and produce the knowledge, innovation and unique insights that we so urgently need on the continent.”

Email: geci.karuri-sebina@wits.ac.za

Geci Karuri-Sebina is an African “scholar-practitioner” working in the intersection between people, place, time and technological change with a focus on the Global South.

Currently, she is an Associate Professor in Digital Governance at Wits University in Johannesburg, an Adjunct Professor at University of Cape Town’s African Centre for Cities, and a Principal at the School of International Futures (SOIF, UK).

Karuri-Sebina also serves as Organiser of the Civic Tech Innovation Network (CTIN); the ICESCO (Islamic World Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation) Chair on Innovation and Futures in Africa; and she is a founding director of the Southern Africa Node of the Millennium Project. She is recognised and published in the fields of development planning, urban policy and governance, foresight, and innovation, and has served in public good (civic, R&D and government) organisations internationally.

Karuri-Sebina holds dual bachelor’s degrees in?computer?science and?sociology (Iowa); dual master’s degrees in architecture and urban planning from UCLA (Los Angeles); and a PhD in Planning and Innovation Studies from Wits University.

Associate Professor Richard Klein

“MIND represents the planting of a flag in the artificial and natural intelligence research space. It positions Wits as the leader in AI on the African continent, creating a vibrant hub where cross-disciplinary research can coalesce, surfacing new ideas and transformative projects.

The School of Computer Science and Applied Mathematics is a powerhouse in AI research, boasting among the highest concentration of AI experts in Africa. With 18 academics working directly in fundamental AI research and publishing in the top AI venues in the world, we are the leading AI research publishers in Africa. Further, boasting over 400 postgraduate students in AI and Data Science programmes from Postgraduate Diplomas through to PhDs, we are well positioned to act as a technical foundation for interdisciplinary research in the MIND Institute, demonstrating our commitment to fundamental and applied AI research alongside projects with profound social impact.”

Email: richard.klein@wits.ac.za

Associate Professor Richard Klein is the Deputy Head of the School of Computer Science and Applied Mathematics and Director of the PRIME Research Lab at Wits University. He holds a PhD in Computer Science.

His research focuses on machine learning, with an emphasis on both fundamental and applied research in computer vision and natural language processing. He is particularly interested in data-efficient learning techniques for situations where label acquisition is limited, including unsupervised, weakly-supervised, and self-supervised learning to reduce data labelling and processing costs.

Richard is also passionate about applying these techniques to various fields, such as education, healthcare, energy, scheduling optimization, and other vision- and language-related tasks.

Dr Pierre Linchamps

“To be part of an interdisciplinary and collaborative network, to meet people and exchange ideas around a common thread but with many branches, to engage and encounter different opinions, to pool new tools to address broad issues.”

Email: pierre.linchamps@gmail.com

Dr Pierre Linchamps is a postdoctoral fellow at Genus/School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies at Wits University, who investigates the systematics, evolution, and palaeoecology of Plio-Pleistocene rodents from Southern Africa.

He obtained a PhD in evolutionary ecology in 2023 from the National Museum of Natural History of Paris, during which he studied Plio-Pleistocene micromammal assemblages from South African caves.

His current work focuses on the development of machine learning and other numerical statistical methods to reconstruct the palaeoenvironmental conditions of archaeological and palaeontological sites based on the remains of small mammals. He also seeks to understand the formation history of deposits by developing biochronology tools based on rodent dental remains.

Professor Thokozani Majozi

“MIND provides a platform to interact with and contribute to a community of leading minds in AI.”

Email: thokozani.majozi@wits.ac.za

Professor Thokozani Majozi is the Executive Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment and a Professor in the School of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering at Wits University.

Majozi was a Commonwealth Scholar at the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology in the United Kingdom where he completed his PhD in Chemical Engineering (Process Integration). He serves on the editorial boards of various chemical engineering journals, including Process Safety and Environmental Protection Journal and Digital Chemical Engineering Journal. A member of various scientific academies, including African Academy of Sciences and Academy of Sciences of South Africa. He is a Fellow of the Institution of Chemical Engineers and a Chartered Engineer, UK.

He has received numerous awards for his research including the British Association Medal (Silver), the South African Institution of Chemical Engineers Bill Neal-May Gold Medal and the National Order of Mapungubwe bestowed on him by President of South Africa. Majozi is the author and co-author of more than 300 scientific publications, including four books on Chemical Process Integration.

Dr Illke Malungo

"As Francis Crick said, 'There is no scientific study more vital to man than the study of his own brain. Our entire view of the universe depends on it.' With the advancement of technology and neuroscience, we will not only deepen our understanding but also unlock new ways to expand human potential."

Email: illke.malungo@wits.ac.za

Dr Illke Malungo is an anatomy lecturer in the School of Anatomical Sciences at Wits University, where she teaches allied health students at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels with a dynamic blend of passion and expertise.

She holds a PhD in neurobiology, where her research focus revolves around the various aspects of mammalian sleep, its evolution and its regulation. Her work includes the neural mechanisms governing sleep patterns in previously undescribed species, including wildebeest, African lions, and the tailless tenrec.

In addition to her research in sleep, she has expanded her neuroanatomy research to understand how disruptions in different processes contribute to neurodevelopmental disorders.

Research Professor Paul R. Manger

“MIND is a breath of fresh air in the scientific environment of Wits University and indeed for South African academia.”

Email: paul.manger@wits.ac.za

Paul R. Manger is a Research Professor in the School of Anatomical Sciences at Wits University. He holds a PhD from the University of Queensland, Australia. Manger has established the first major brain bank in the southern hemisphere and has collected the most well-prepared specimens of mammal brains from over 300 species, allowing for the use of modern neuroanatomical methods.

His laboratory studies the natural ecosystems of the world minimally affected by humans, with a specific focus on Africa. The experimental paradigm of these natural ecosystems is biological evolution. His laboratory attempts to describe and understand the co-evolution of brain and behaviour, primarily in mammals.

He has studied brains and behaviour in monotremes, marsupials and a broad range of placental mammals, revealing the different trajectories and pressures guiding how brains have evolved and have developed an understanding of the neurological and behavioural underpinnings of sleep in animals as diverse as platypus and elephants.

Professor Paidamwoyo Mhangara

“We are advancing the frontiers of Earth Observation using artificial intelligence and machine learning.”

Email: paida.mhangara@wits.ac.za

Professor Paidamwoyo Mhangara is the Head of School for the School of Geography, Archaeology, and Environment Studies at Wits University. He is a senior Earth Observation scientist, academic and executive with research interests in land atmospheric interactions, machine learning for land cover characterisation and advanced remote sensing modelling for land cover monitoring.

He has extensive experience developing large-scale operational geospatial products and services to support spatial planning and decision-making. For over a decade, Mhangara has managed several earth observation international collaborative projects on crop monitoring, environmental monitoring, land use and land cover mapping and water resources management.

He is registered as a professional geospatial scientist with the South African Council for Natural and Scientific Professions. He co-authored a paper entitled "Validation of sentinel-2 leaf area index (LAI) product derived from SNAP toolbox and its comparison with global LAI products in an African semi-arid agricultural landscape." in the Remote Sensing Letters journal that received the Remote Sensing Letters Award for the best paper published in Remote Sensing Letters in 2020 by Taylor & Francis and The Remote Sensing and Photogrammetry Society.

Dr Farai Mlambo

“Joining the MIND Institute is an incredible opportunity to contribute to cutting-edge research in machine intelligence. It’s a chance to push the boundaries of innovation in deep learning and uncertainty quantification, working alongside brilliant minds to shape the future of AI for critical real-world applications in Africa.”

Email: farai.mlambo@wits.ac.za

Dr Farai Mlambo leads the Statistical Machine Learning, Data Science, and Analytics Lab (SMLDSA Lab) at Wits University, a virtual platform connecting a network of postgraduate students, academics, and industry partners. The Lab bridges academia and industry, promoting partnerships that address complex real-world challenges across sectors like business, healthcare, and engineering.

Farai holds a PhD in Mathematical Statistics (2015–2019) from Nelson Mandela University. In 2019 he received the Best Paper Award at the European Simulation and Modelling Conference and the Innovation Doctoral Scholarship Award from the National Research Foundation. Farai earned numerous awards, including Best Honours Graduate, Best Initial Degree Award, and multiple subject-specific accolades in Economics and Statistics. He was awarded a National Presidential Scholarship by the Government of Zimbabwe.

He served as a full-time lecturer in mathematical statistics at Wits University, specialising in statistical, mathematical, and computational methods for interdisciplinary studies.

His research interests include artificial intelligence, machine learning, statistics, and data science, with practical applications in business, engineering, and healthcare. He has published numerous research articles in peer-reviewed journals, conference proceedings, and books.

Dr Khondlo Quett Sithembiso Mtshali

“Joining MIND is both exciting and important for me because it means I get to work in an interdisciplinary environment, an environment where there is a plurality of experts and expertise all dedicated to answering some of the most topical questions in science today, questions about humanity, intelligence, consciousness and artificial intelligence.”

Email: khondlo.mtshali@wits.ac.za

Khondlo Mtshali is a lecturer in Philosophy at Wits University. He specialises in Philosophy of Mind and specifically consciousness studies. He has a Bachelor of Social Science (Philosophy and Political Science), Honours of Social Science (Cognitive Science and Public Policy) and a Master of Arts (Philosophy) degrees, and a PhD in Philosophy.

Dr Isaac Nape

“I’m thrilled to join MIND at a time when the fusion of AI with photonics and quantum computing is driving the rapid emergence of quantum optical neural networks and quantum artificial intelligence. I look forward to seeing how the collaborative vision of the MIND Institute will push these innovations forward. After all, the brain itself might be a quantum machine—let’s learn from it.”

Email: isaac.nape@wits.ac.za

Dr Isaac Nape is a distinguished and internationally recognised researcher in quantum technologies, based at the Structured Light Lab, Wits University. He holds the prestigious Optica Emerging Leader in Optics Chair, awarded for his pioneering contributions to quantum and classical optics, quantum imaging, quantum cryptography, and quantum communications. His groundbreaking research is published in leading journals such as Nature Photonics, Science Advances and Optica. Recently, he has focused on quantum algorithms for solving complex inference problems in optics, with his latest work presented at the 2023 IBM Quantum Practitioner Forum in New York.

He holds a PhD in Physics from Wits. At just 30, Isaac has garnered numerous accolades, including the Meiring Naudé Medal and the Jubilee Silver Medal, affirming his significant contributions to quantum science. He was named among Mail & Guardian’s top 200 young South Africans and represented the country at the Global Young Scientists Summit. His research is supported by substantial funding sources, including the Friedel Sellschop Fellowship, the South African Quantum Technology Initiative (SAQuTI) Emerging Leader Grant, and the National Research Foundation.

Dr Ayanda Ngwenya

“Joining the MIND Institute is journeying into something new and unexplored - the very definition of scientific endeavour.”

Email: ayanda.ngwenya@wits.ac.za

Dr Ayanda Ngwenya is a Senior Lecturer in the Division of Histology in the School of Anatomical Sciences at Wits University. She holds a PhD in Comparative Neurobiology from Wits and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Canadian Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience (CCBN), in Alberta Canada.

She has a keen interest in the structure of the brain and body. Cells, which carry out bodily functions, come in all shapes and sizes and show complex and varied characteristics designed not only for basic physiological function but also the ability to adapt to internal and external changes in the body. Her research focus on the plastic mechanisms of the brain, particularly changes in neuronal morphology, intending to understand the evolution of plasticity and the wide range of complex behaviours seen throughout vertebrates.

Dr Pravesh Ranchod

“MIND has the potential to reduce the friction in cross-disciplinary collaboration and facilitate research that would otherwise be sidelined.”

Email: pravesh.ranchod@wits.ac.za

Dr Pravesh Ranchod is a Senior Tutor in the School of Computer Science and Applied Mathematics at Wits University, where he focusses on machine learning and robotics. He is the coordinator of the Postgraduate Diploma in Data Science, and a cofounder of Lelapa AI and Pravichi Software.

Dr Olu Randle

“MIND will foster academic collaborations for technological growth for Africans”

Email: oluwarotimi.randle1@wits.ac.za

Dr Olu Randle is the Head of the Digital Arts Department at Wits University. He leads a vibrant group of students focused on African-themed video game development.

His research is in video development and the utilisation of machine learning in video games, and currently investigates how African-themed video games can be used as tools to provide Indigenous knowledge.

Associate Lecturer Jarrod Jay Shipton

“I am proud to be a part of an institute that stands at the forefront of innovation, where the transformative power of machine learning is being linked with diverse scientific fields.”

Email: jj.shipton@gmail.com

Jarrod Jay Shipton is an Associate Lecturer in the School of Computer Science and Applied Mathematics at Wits University. His research interests include Multi-agent Reinforcement Learning, Ad-hoc Coordination, Zero-Shot Coordination, Theory of Mind, Conventions and Norms.

Dr Geraud Nangue Tasse

“It is an incredible honour to join MIND as a Founding Fellow, as it aligns perfectly with my ambition to push the boundaries of intelligent systems. I am excited to collaborate across disciplines, creating frameworks that not only advance artificial intelligence but also enhance our understanding of how intelligence manifests in both machines and living beings.”

Email: geraudnt@gmail.com

Dr Geraud Nangue Tasse is an IBM PhD Fellow and Sessional Lecturer in Computer Science at Wits University. He holds undergraduate degrees in computer science, physics, pure and applied mathematics.

He has always been fascinated by intelligence in animals and humans, and the immense potential for good of creating generally intelligent agents. His main research interests lie in reinforcement learning (RL), both computationally and biologically, since he believes that it is the framework with the most potential for understanding, representing, and creating general intelligence.

Nangue is interested in a variety of topics regarding intelligent agents, particularly questions about safety, interpretability and generalization of RL agents.

Dr Victoria Williams

“Joining the MIND Institute is a unique opportunity to work alongside experts from multiple fields, combining our strengths to push the boundaries of human, animal and machine intelligence. It thus provides a platform to deepen our understanding of AI through an interdisciplinary lens. It also allows us to contribute towards novel research that shapes the future of AI, while addressing its societal and ethical implications.”

Email: victoriamarywilliams@gmail.com

Dr Victoria Williams is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Computer Science in the School of Computer Science and Applied Mathematics at Wits University. She has obtained degrees across disciplines, such as Anthropology, Psychology and Anatomical Sciences, resulting in a comprehensive and holistic understanding of human brain anatomy and evolution.

Her research is grounded in an interdisciplinary approach to neuroscience, integrating perspectives from anthropology, psychology and neuroanatomy. By integrating these disciplines, she is interested in deepening our understanding of the neural and cognitive mechanisms underlying consciousness and behaviour in both biological and artificial systems.

MIND Fellows

Share