CHS Welcomes New Associate Professor

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Professor Mershen Pillay has been appointed an Associate Professor at UKZN’s School of Health Sciences where he will support and collaborate with research entities within the School and continue building his own research portfolio.

Pillay is both an Audiologist and a Speech Language Therapist and his academic qualifications include a doctorate in education which focused on transforming the practitioner-patient relationship.

His research interests are partly the area of ototoxicity with special reference to ‘workers exposed to chemicals in the workplace who lose their hearing as a result of “ear poison”. These workers include paint strippers, road workers and others exposed to chemicals that directly or indirectly destroy hearing’.

He is also interested in dysphagia – or swallowing disorders - in adults and children who may develop chest infections due to foods/liquids going into their air pipe because of the inability to swallow safely.  ‘I also want to raise awareness amongst employers about workers’ exposure to chemicals that slowly destroy hearing over time,’ he said.

Pillay’s future plans include developing a service for people with disabilities who are at risk of malnutrition and have problems accessing and sustaining food. He argues that dysphagia may be considered a food security issue with members from displaced and/or low socioeconomic contexts representing the most vulnerable of this clinical group. 

‘For example children with cerebral palsy or adults after a stroke may have difficulties drinking liquids like water which go into their air pipe resulting in chest infections which often result in death,’ said Pillay. ‘Modifying foods to, for example, slow the flow of water will result in improved safety.’

To achieve his goals Pillay plans to collaborate with local and international chefs and food scientists to develop, for example, the use of “high-cuisine” methods like molecular gastronomy to modify foods and liquids.

Pillay worked at the former UDW between1993 to 2003 and then at Stellenbosch University from late 2012 to early this year when he returned to UKZN. He also holds honorary positions at the University of Cape Town as a Research Associate and at Manchester Metropolitan University in England as a Visiting Research Scholar.  

He has in over two decades, worked mostly as a clinical practitioner in England, the United Arab Emirates and South Africa.

He has held positions as the Editor-in-Chief of the SA Journal of Communication Disorders and has presented/published his work in Africa – including South Africa and Uganda – and in various countries in Asia, Europe, North America and the Caribbean.

His clinical research interests are in swallowing disorders (dysphagia) and hearing disorders due to chemical exposures in the workplace. He is passionate about theoretically and practically repositioning the way in which health care professionals work with people who have disabilities.

-          Nombuso Dlamini