Contributing to medical science

Dr Robyn Rautenbach
Ophthalmologist, University of Cape Town
MMed in neurosciences and cell biology (by dissertation): Investigating the role of TGF-β1in the development of ophthalmoplegia in a subset of myasthenia gravis patients of African ancestry

Under the microscope

As a post-graduate student in ophthalmology, Dr Robyn Rautenbach published two significant papers in international peer review journals and is described as a ‘dedicated and gifted clinician and surgeon’ by Ophthalmology Department head at Stellenbosch University, Professor D Meyer. “Ultimately I would like to be actively involved in teaching and training prospective ophthalmologists, and continue to keenly participate in clinical and scientific research within ophthalmology.” Her interests outside of medicine include running on Table Mountain, mountain biking and playing golf.

South Africa’s healthcare professionals are duty bound to contribute to medical science with the same commitment and enthusiasm as their predecessors, says Dr Robyn Rautenbach.

South Africa’s strong pioneering culture has played a significant role in the strides made in healthcare and medical science and it isn’t over. This generation shares that responsibility,

Dr Robyn Rautenbach believes. It is her desire to make a significant contribution to academic medicine, particularly in the South African context. “That is probably what draws me into research and into the laboratory,” she says. And it’s the field of ophthalmology that is of particular interest. “There are many misperceptions in medicine about the field of ophthalmology. The scope and burden of patients and disease is far greater than most people will appreciate, with ophthalmology outpatient departments being amongst the three busiest departments at the tertiary hospitals in the Cape Town metropole. Ocular conditions affect an extended spectrum of patients from pre-term infants to the elderly, and everyone in-between.”

“It is a field with enormous scope to improve patients’ quality of life, assist them in regaining or maintaining their independence, dignity and sense of self-worth,” she says. The Discovery Foundation Award has allowed her to invest time and resources in investigating a serious condition affecting a proportion of young South Africans, which, she hopes, will ultimately lead to an identification of novel targets for treatment and as a result, significantly improve these young patients’ quality of life. “These patients develop a severe and treatment-resistant form of external ophthalmoplegia, which is accompanied by significant morbidity and functional visual impairment. The ultimate research objective would be to translate the results from bench to bedside,” Dr Rautenbach says. And her health message to all South Africans? “Understand the importance of wellness promotion and disease prevention, empowering yourselves to take control of your own future health. Healthcare facilities in South Africa are already overburdened and under-resourced. Yet we are currently experiencing a growing epidemic of both childhood and adult obesity, together with its associated disease burden as well as an escalation in the number of tobacco-, drug-, and alcohol-related diseases. There has never been a more critical time to take control of and to prevent lifestyle-related diseases.”