Discipline of Paediatric & Child Health

Qualifications Obtained:
1. Completed MBChB at University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) in Dec 2002
2. Completed Diploma in Child Health (DCH) in Sept 2004
3. Completed Fellowship in Paediatrics (FcPaeds) in May 2009
4. Completed Master of Medicine (MMED) Paediatrics in April 2016
5. Completed Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Paediatrics in September 2022

Honors:
1. 2002: Awarded UKZN’s Donald Luwazi prize for the final year MBChB student who attained the highest aggregate mark in the Orthopaedics examination.
2. 2008: Awarded 1st prize for Registrar research presentation at UKZN Paediatrics Showcase in Clinical Education and Research.
3. June 2021: Winner of the UKZN School of Clinical Medicine Three-minute thesis competition for PhD students.

Research Grants:
February 2022: Awarded a research grant from Smile Train for $40 200.

Employment History:
1. September 2010 – current: Full-time Grade 3 Specialist Paediatrician in Medical Genetics at Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital (IALCH); Durban, South Africa.
2. January–August 2010: Full time Grade 1 Specialist Paediatrician at Edendale Hospital (Pietermaritzburg, South Africa) and Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Hospital (Durban, South Africa). Both are regional hospitals.
3. 2006-2009: Full-time Paediatric Registrar: in KwaZulu-Natal: rotating through hospitals in Pietermaritzburg and Durban; South Africa.
4. December 2005: Full-time Medical Officer in Paediatrics, Grey’s Hospital; Pietermaritzburg, South Africa.
5. May-November 2005: 6-month locum as a Senior House Officer in Accident and Emergency at Bronglais Hospital, Wales, United Kingdom. Her UK General Medical Council (GMC) registration was not maintained following her return to South Africa.
6. January-April 2005: Full-time Medical Officer in Orthopaedics, Edendale Hospital, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa.
7. 2004: Full-time Community Service Officer: Pietermaritzburg Complex of Hospitals. Completed six monthly rotations in Paediatrics and Orthopaedics.
8. 2003: Full-time Intern at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto, Johannesburg. Completed four monthly rotations in Internal Medicine, Obstetrics & Gynaecology and General Surgery (including Trauma & Emergency + Anaesthetics).

Registration History:
Currently registered: Health Professions Council of South Africa: HPCSA Registration number: MP0569062.
Previously registered: General Medical Council: GMC Reference number: 6086966

Posters presented at conferences:
1. Naicker T, Aldous C, Thejpal R, Haemophilia: A disease of women as well. Presented at the 16th SASHG Congress, The Next GENeration, Pretoria, 16-19 August 2015.
2. Naicker T, Aldous C, Thejpal R, Haemophilia: A disease of women as well. Presented at the SAPA 2016 Biennial Conference, Durban, 1-4 September 2016.
3. Naicker T, Aldous C, Butali A, Are there novel cleft variants in Durban? Presented at the 14th ICHG Congress, Welcome Home, Cape Town, 22-26 February 2023.

Oral presentations at conferences:
1. Naicker T. The Genetic Aetiology of Orofacial Clefts in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Presented at the inaugural SAMRC Clinician Scientist Conference, Virtual Platform, 26 February 2021.

Current Research Collaborations:
1. Joined the NigriCRAN consortium, Butali Lab, Iowa, United States of America, as a principal investigator (PI) for the South African samples. Jan 2018.
2. Signed an MOU with the University of Iowa for cleft research collaborations. 2018.
3. Joined the DDD-Africa study as a Principal Investigator for KwaZulu-Natal. April 2020.
4. Collaborator on the Ubomi Buhle project: Detecting congenital anomalies across 3 provinces. November 2022.
5. Collaborated on a STAC-3 congenital myopathy paper with NHLS Braamfontein Genetics unit.

Memberships:
1. Member of South African Society of Human Genetics since 2010. Served as committee member from 2011-2013.
2. Member of Medical Genetics Group (MGG) of South Africa since 2010.
3. Member of Rare Diseases South Africa (RDSA) and the previous Genetic Alliance South Africa (GA-SA) linking patients with rare disease to support groups and clinicians.
4. Member of Sanofi Rare Disease public sector access advisory board since November 2022.
5. Member of the Congenital Anomaly Review Committee for Birth Defects caused by Dolutegravir in South Africa. Feb 2023

Teaching and Lecturing Experience:
Dr Naicker has a total of 13 years of teaching experience at a tertiary level. Since 2010, she has been an honorary lecturer for the Department of Paediatrics at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Her responsibilities include delivering paediatric lectures to the 2nd, 4th, and 6th year medical students.
Dr Naicker is involved in the 6th year medical student curriculum and gives bedside tutorials to the students. She teaches the paediatric registrars in the following areas: bedside teaching, mock fellowship examination tutorials and basic science tutorials. Since 2024, she is the current Paediatric Part 1 examiner for UKZN.

Student Supervision:
2020: successfully supervised a paediatric registrar MMED.
Abugrain, Khadija Ali (Student number: 214584831)
From 2023: Currently supervising 2 Paediatric registrar MMEDs and 1 MMED Sci.
Reviewer Experience:
Invited to review an orofacial cleft paper for the Annals of Global Health. Dec 2022

Examiner Experience:
1. CMSA FcPaeds (SA) Part 1 Examiner – Semester 1 – 2014
2. CMSA FcPaeds (SA) Part 1 Convenor – Semester 2 – 2015
3. CMSA FcPaeds (SA) Part 2 Observer – Semester 2 – 2015
4. CMSA DCH (SA) Examiner – Semester 1 – 2017
5. Local UKZN Paediatric 6th year examination paper Moderator 2019 – 2021
6. Local UKZN Paediatric Examiner for 4th and 6th year students – from 2010 to current
7. Local UKZN Paediatric 6th year paper examiner – from Jan 2023

Courses/Workshops/Awareness Campaigns conducted:
She has been involved in conducting the following training workshops for nurses in KwaZulu-Natal:
1. Medical Genetics Education Programme (MGEP) – Genetics clinical training for nurses from Obstetrics and Paediatrics in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016 in Durban, Pietermaritzburg and Lower Umfolozi.
2. School Health Nurses: Training on identification of the dysmorphic child. 2013
3. Surveillance Nurses: Training on the recognition of birth defects. 2016
4. Ubomi Buhle Nurses: Training on recognition of birth defects. 2018
5. Birth Defects Awareness Day: Held at Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital. Feb 2020.

Congresses involved in:
1. Member of the Local Organising Committee(LOC) for SAPA 2016
2. Co-chair for the SASHG 2017 Congress
3. Member of the Local Organising Committee for the Rare Diseases 2018 Conference

Publications: ORCID ID: 0000-0001-7146-7159

Naicker, T. and Aldous, C., 2014. Two trisomy 22 live births in one hospital in 15 months: is it as rare as we thought? Fetal and pediatric pathology, 33(1), pp.35-41. https://doi.org/10.3109/15513815.2013.842273
Naicker, T. 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome. Paediatric Quarterly Journal. March 2014, Volume 5, Number 3, pp 17-19.

Dandara, C., Greenberg, J., Lambie, L., Lombard, Z., Naicker, T., Ramesar, R., Ramsay, M., Roberts, L., Theron, M., Venter, P. and Bardien, S., 2013. Direct-to-consumer genetic testing: To test or not to test, that is the question. SAMJ: South African Medical Journal, 103(8), pp.510-512. DOI: 10.7196/SAMJ.7049
Naicker, T., Aldous, C., Thejpal, R., 2016. Haemophilia: A disease of women as well. South African Journal of Child Health. March 2016, Vol 10, pp.29-32 DOI: 10.7196/SAJCH.2016.v10i1.961
Alade, A. A., Buxo-Martinez, C. J., Mossey, P. A., Gowans, L., Eshete, M. A., Adeyemo, W. L., Naicker, T., … Butali, A. 2020. Non-random distribution of deleterious mutations in the DNA and protein-binding domains of IRF6 are associated with Van Der Woude syndrome. Molecular genetics & genomic medicine, e1355. https://doi.org/10.1002/mgg3.1355

Gowans LJ, Al Dhaheri N, Li M, Busch T, Obiri‐Yeboah S, Oti AA, Sabbah DK, Arthur FK, Awotoye WO, Alade AA, Twumasi P, Naicker T, Butali A. Co‐occurrence of orofacial clefts and clubfoot phenotypes in a sub-Saharan African cohort: Whole‐exome sequencing implicates multiple syndromes and genes. Molecular Genetics & Genomic Medicine. 2021 Mar 14:e1655. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/mgg3.1655

Olatosi OO, Alade AA, Naicker T, Busch T, Oyapero A, Li M, Pape J, Olotu J, Awotoye W, Hassan M, Adeleke C. Dental Caries Severity and Nutritional Status of Nigerian Preschool Children. JDR Clinical & Translational Research. 2021 Mar 25:23800844211002108.

Li M, Olotu J, Buxo‐Martinez CJ, Mossey PA, Anand D, Busch T, Alade A, Gowans LJ, Eshete M, Adeyemo WL, Naicker T. Variant analyses of candidate genes in orofacial clefts in multi‐ethnic populations. Oral Diseases. 2021 Jun 1.

Gowans, L. J., Comnick, C. L., Mossey, P. A., Eshete, M. A., Adeyemo, W. L., Naicker, T., … & Butali, A. (2021). Genome-Wide Scan for Parent-of-Origin Effects in a sub-Saharan African Cohort with Nonsyndromic Cleft Lip and/or Cleft Palate (CL/P). The Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Journal, 10556656211036316.

Naicker, T., Adeleke, C. C., Alade, A., Mossey, P. A., Awotoye, W. A., Busch, T. D., … & Butali, A. (2021). Novel GRHL3 Variants in a South African Cohort with Cleft Lip and Palate. The Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Journal, 10556656211038453.

Awotoye, W., Comnick, C., Pendleton, C., Zeng, E., Alade, A., Mossey, P. A., Gowans, L., Eshete, M. A., Adeyemo, W. L., Naicker, T., Adeleke, C., Busch, T., Li, M., Petrin, A., Olotu, J., Hassan, M., Pape, J., Miller, S. E., Donkor, P., Anand, D., … Butali, A. (2021). Genome-wide Gene-by-Sex Interaction Studies Identify Novel Nonsyndromic Orofacial Clefts Risk Locus. Journal of dental research, 220345211046614. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/00220345211046614

Fashina, A., Busch, T., Young, M., Adamson, O., Awotoye, W., Alade, A., Adeleke, C., Hassan, M., Oladayo, A.M., Gowans, L.J., Eshete, M., Naicker, T., Olotu, J., Adeyemo, W.L., and Butali, A. Aug 2022. Investigating the relationship between cancer and orofacial clefts using GWAS significant loci for cancers: A case-control and case-triad study. Frontiers in Oral Health, 3.

Awotoye W, Mossey PA, Hetmanski JB, Gowans LJ, Eshete MA, Adeyemo WL, Alade A, Zeng E, Adamson O, Naicker T, Anand D. Whole-genome sequencing reveals de-novo mutations associated with nonsyndromic cleft lip/palate. Scientific reports. 2022 Jul 11; 12(1):1-4.Thirona Naicker, Azeez Alade, Waheed Awotoye, Helen Malherbe, Colleen Aldous, Azeez Butali. Systematic review on the known variants and genes associated with orofacial clefts in Africa. PAMJ Clinical Medicine. 2022; 9:46. Published on 30 Aug 2022Awotoye, W., Mossey, P. A., Hetmanski, J. B., Gowans, L. J., Eshete, M. A., Adeyemo, W. L., Naicker, T…. & Butali, A. (2022). Damaging Mutations in AFDN Contribute to Risk of Nonsyndromic Cleft Lip With or Without Cleft Palate. The Cleft Palate Craniofacial Journal, 10556656221135926. Published 16 Nov 2022. https://doi.org/10.1177/10556656221135926
Naicker, T., Alade, A., Adeleke, C., Mossey, P. A., Awotoye, W. A., Busch, T., Li, M., Olotu, J., Aldous, C., & Butali, A. (2023). Novel IRF6 variant in orofacial cleft patients from Durban, South Africa. Molecular Genetics & Genomic Medicine, 00, e2138. https://doi.org/10.1002/mgg3.2138
Oladayo, A., Gowans, L. J. J., Awotoye, W., Alade, A., Busch, T., Naicker, T., … & Butali, A. (2023). Clinically actionable secondary findings in 130 triads from sub‐Saharan African families with non‐syndromic orofacial clefts. Molecular genetics & genomic medicine. Published 26 July 2023. https://doi.org/10.1002/mgg3.2237Awotoye, W., Mossey, P. A., Hetmanski, J. B., Gowans, L. J., Eshete, M. A., Adeyemo, W. L., Naicker, T.,… & Butali, A. (2024). Damaging mutations in AFDN contribute to risk of nonsyndromic cleft lip with or without cleft palate. The Cleft Palate Craniofacial Journal, 61(4), 697-705.

Alade, A., Peter, T., Busch, T., Awotoye, W., Anand, D., Abimbola, O., Naicker, T., … & Butali, A. (2024). Shared genetic risk between major orofacial cleft phenotypes in an African population. Genetic Epidemiology

Alade, A., Mossey, P., Awotoye, W., Busch, T., Oladayo, A., Aladenika, E., … & Naicker, T. (2024). Rare Variants Analyses Suggest Novel Cleft Genes in the African Population.

Buldeo, S., Pillay, A., Chateau, A. V., Dube-Pule, A., & Naicker, T. (2024). Chediak-higashi syndrome: a novel mutation. Current Allergy & Clinical Immunology, 37(1), 11-13.

Recent References
1. Prof. Refiloe Masekela {University of KwaZulu-Natal}
Position: Head of Department: Paediatrics
Email: masekelar@ukzn.ac.za
Tel: +27 31 260 4345
2. Prof. Prakash Jeena {Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital}
Position: Head of Department: IALCH Paediatrics
Email: Prakash.Jeena@ialch.co.za
Tel: +27 84 467 2723 or +27 31 240 2046
3. Prof. Azeez Butali {University of Iowa}
Position: Associate Professor, College of Dentistry
Email: Azeez-butali@uiowa.edu
Tel: +1 319 936 5406
4. Prof. Colleen Aldous {University of KwaZulu-Natal}
Position: Heath Care Scientist – Clinical Research
Email: aldousc@ukzn.ac.za
Tel: +27 84 407 7603 or +27 31 260 4124