A lecturer who studied diabetes in the patients textbooks forget now holds his doctorate

Dr Mashudu Nemukula, a lecturer at Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University, has earned his PhD in Biochemistry at the university's 2026 Spring Graduation. His thesis asked a question global diabetes research often skips: how do the subtypes of LDL cholesterol — the 'bad' cholesterol — behave in Black South African patients with Type 2 diabetes, and how much artery damage follows? Working with patients at Dr George Mukhari Academic Hospital, he combined a hospital cohort study with blood profiling that maps hundreds of small molecules. The work identified a metabolic signature of diabetes in this population, and found that not taking treatment as prescribed was independently linked to higher LDL cholesterol. During the doctorate he published four research papers and completed a research placement in New Delhi. 'I hope this milestone inspires future scientists,' he said.

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