Student Graduates with Master’s and PhD in Less than Three Years

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UKZN’s Tasneem Karani (26) graduated with a PhD in Speech-Language Therapy following an upgrade from her master’s degree for her thesis titled: Crispy, Crunchy and Crackly: An Exploration of Food Textural Acoustics on the Swallow Mechanism.

‘Eating is one of the most multisensory experiences, with sounds often regarded as the “forgotten flavour sense”,’ said Karani.  ‘Ask yourself, why do we find crispy foods so enjoyable, and why do we find ourselves salivating when we hear the sizzling sounds of a steak? My goal is to understand the body’s physiological response, specifically the swallow response to food acoustic properties.’

Her master’s degree and PhD studies were supervised by Associate Professor Mershen Pillay, an expert in the field of dysphagia (swallowing disorders), who Karani feels deeply indebted to and very privileged that he was her supervisor.

Karani’s study is part of a larger novel research project known as THRIVE (Tackling Hunger by Research and Innovation in Vulnerable Environments) developed at the University of Zululand and motivated by the need to deliver viable solutions to all vulnerable populations - such as individuals with dysphagia who may encounter food insecurity - to access food that they can safely consume. ‘My study is focused on developing and investing in more “sensory responsive” foods for individuals with dysphagia in resource-constrained contexts such as South Africa, with the hope that in addition to being enjoyable they possess therapeutic benefits for these individuals,’ she said.

Dysphagia interested Karani since her final year of undergraduate study and during her community service year. ‘Being placed at a regional hospital in rural KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) for my community service year, I dealt with a high patient-to-therapist ratio and limited access to resources and equipment. This further fueled my passion and the need to serve individuals with dysphagia more effectively, particularly those in low-to-middle income groups,’ said Karani. This led her to question ‘how can we target the rehabilitation of the swallowing mechanism of these patients with dysphagia while ensuring that the foods provided to them take into account their enjoyment and overall quality of life?’

She said the COVID-19 pandemic had been one of her greatest challenges during her research study. ‘I was scheduled to conduct the main component of my study at a hospital in KZN, however, COVID-19 halted my research plans. In addition, I experienced other personal challenges such as contracting the virus during that period, the death of my grandmother, and caring for my father who suffered two brain haemorrhages and underwent a craniotomy.

‘Despite these disruptions, I persevered. Ironically, COVID-19 provided me with an opportunity to critically rethink the conceptual basis of my study and to accommodate all the changes that arose,’ said Karani. ‘This involved conducting an exploration of the sensibility of the construct of food acoustics through an extensive exploration of the literature and consultations with world experts across various disciplines of study. This included,’ she said, ‘the fields of mechanical engineering, food engineering, food science, speech therapy and audiology, cognitive neuropsychology and gastronomy.’

Karani attributed her success to the Almighty, and support and guidance from her parents, husband, supervisor, friends and family, especially her sister, Nazeera.

‘My family have been my greatest support system throughout this PhD journey. They believed in me, comforted me in times of despair and celebrated all my victories, big and small.’

Karani obtained her undergraduate degree in Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology cum laude at the University of the Witwatersrand. She received numerous accolades including: the AB Clemons Research Award; awards for the best student in both Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology; Golden Key Awards for four consecutive years; the Faculty Dean’s Medal Award, and was a recipient of the prestigious Sponsor-A-Student Scholarship for the Dysphagia Research Society (2021), among others. She has presented her research both locally and internationally.

A flag bearer for South Africa at the International Association of Logopedics and Phoniatrics conference in Taipei, Taiwan, Karani completed her PhD after being awarded an upgrade from her master’s full research degree, one of the first in the field.

She hopes her PhD findings will spark positive change by improving the quality of life for those experiencing swallowing disorders globally. She further hopes that her PhD study will open up many doors of inquiry across the fields for her and she would like to use it as a springboard for a successful future research career.

She hopes to pursue postdoctoral studies, focusing on contributing novel and impactful research in the field, specifically from a South African perspective.

Karani enjoys reading, gardening, cooking and baking, and spending time with her family and pets.

Words: Nombuso Dlamini

Photograph: Abhi Indrarajan