We’re passionate
about our Vision and Mission at MSSA.
Our Mission Statement
The Melanoma Society South Africa (MSSA) is the successor organisation of the South African Melanoma Advisory Board (SAMAB).
The latter was founded at the Melanoma World congress in 1997 and replaced by the MSSA in 2007.
The SAMAB published the first Melanoma guidelines (Management of Melanoma in South Africa (Sinclair,Whitaker et al) published in the South AfricanMedical Journal in 2004)
The MSSA is a multidisciplinary organisation including all roleplayers involved in the management of melanoma namely dermatologists, oncologists, plastic surgeons and pathologists.
The MSSA was officially launched at the dermatological Society of South Africa (DSSA)conference in the Drakensberg in 2014 , replacing SAMAB
It is fully affiliated to the DSSA.
The following missions will guide the activities of the MSSA
Improve Medical Education
The MSSA will host (in collaboration with the Melanoma world Society )skin cancer update conferences every second year.Those are directed to maintain a high standard of care through continued medical education of all roleplayers involved in the management of Melanoma Skin Cancer.
The conference is the only truly interdisciplinary meeting involving dermatologists,oncologists, plastic surgeons and pathologists. It enhances collaboration and exchange of ideas between different specialist groups.
Improve guideline development
In collaboration with the world melanoma Society(WMS) the MSSA intends to unify diagnostic and therapeutic strategies in melanoma worldwide.
Through the MSSA website the MSSA aims to establish a melanoma knowledge data base which contains all relevant articles for evidence based medicine in melanoma and additionally evidence tables on theses articles.
The website will make different international guidelines available for ease of reference.
The MSSA in collaboration with the WMS will organize international expert meetings in order to develop recommendations for diagnosis and treatment of melanoma in the rapidly changing landscape.
The website - As a tool for giving easy access to the latest news - Will be updated regularly.
The content will be divided into a physician section with the latest scientific data available and a patient section where a patient can find out about how to diagnose a melanoma ,how to prevent skin cancer and what to expect once skin cancer has been diagnosed.
Improve Public knowledge
The MSSA is actively involved in public awareness campaigns. The focus is on identifying different target groups and give appropriate recommendations . This is an ongoing project.
The Exco
The Exco of The Melanoma Society consists of the President and Vice Presidents from all the specialities involved in the treatment of melanoma , namely a dermatologist, an oncologist an plastic surgeon and a pathologist to coordinate collaboration between all specialities.
Meet the Melanoma Society EXCO members
-
Dr. Dagmar Whitaker
PRESIDENT
-
Dr. Willie Visser
VICE PRESIDENT
-
Dr. Sze Wai Chan
VICE PRESIDENT
-
Dr. Johann de Wet
DERMATOLOGIST - SECRETARY
-
Dr. Bianca Tod
DERMATOLOGIST TREASURER
-
Dr. Mark Phipson
-
Dr. Jeremy D. O'Kennedy
-
Dr. Johann Schneider
ANATOMICAL PATHOLOGIST
Meet Dr. Dagmar Whitaker
PRESIDENT
-
• Dr Dagmar Whitaker obtained S.E.G. in 1982 (summa cum laude)
• M.D at the University of Frankfurt (cum laude). 1983
• Worked in internal Medicine from 1984 – 1989.
• Registrar in Dermatology at the University of Stellenbosch from 1990 – 1994.
• During 1994 Light Therapy training at the Department of Dermatology University of Munich, Germany. M.Med. Derm – University of Stellenbosch 1994
• In private practice in Kenilworth, Cape Town, South Africa since 1994.
• Honary lecturer and consultant at the University of Stellenbosch since 2010
-
• Registrars Prize for Best Congress presentation
• Publication in Journal of Skin Diseases (RSA) and CME journal (RSA)
• Hautarzt
• Publication (2004): Author of the Melanoma Guidelines for South Africa. Updated Guidelines:2018
• Co-Author of the Psoriasis Guidelines for South Africa
• Actively involved in skin cancer awareness campaigns (lectures at schools, publications in the lay press, radio interviews, TV / video production) in collaboration with UNEP as well as Ministry of Environmental Affairs (United Nations Environmental Program, Ozone Office).
• Actively involved in CME programmes (lectures to GP’s and Pharmacists).
-
• 1-2 Congress presentations (RSA) per year,on skincancer,melanoma, Vitiligo as well as PDT workshops.
-
Regular yearly presentations at international congresses as an invited speaker/part of the faculty:
• Regular yearly presntations at international congresses as an invited speaker/part of the faculty:
• Presentation on PDT at the EADV 2004.
• Presentation on Melanoma management at the World Melanoma conference in Vienna 2009
• Invited speaker on Melanoma around the world Melanoma conference Hamburg 2013
• Invited faculty member of the World skin cancer congress, Edinburgh 2014
• Invited Speaker at Skincancer congress in Suzdal, Russia 2015
• Congress organizer, president and speaker at the World Melanoma Society conference in Cape Town 2017 and 2019
• Invited speaker at the International Summer Academy Munich 2017
• Invited speaker at the World Melanoma Society conference in Rio De Janeiro 2018
• Invited speaker at the EADO 2018 in Barcelona
• Invited faculty member to the sunscreen summit in Brisbane 2020 and 2022
• Invited speaker at the EADO 2020 in Vilnius (virtual)
• Invited faculty member of the World Conference in dermatology, Singapore 2023
-
• President of the Melanoma Society South Africa
• Vice president of the Melanoma World Society
• Vice president Woman in Dermatology Society South Africa
• Immediate Past President Dermatological Society South Africa
• Member of Advisory Boards (Biologicals combined committee, Roche, Aspen, Adcock Ingram, Novartis)
• Sunscreen SA committee (invited members) to develop guidelines for sunscreen use for people of colour
Meet Dr. Willie Visser
VICE PRESIDENT
-
• Dr Willie Visser is the Head of Dermatology at University of Stellenbosch, Tygerberg Academic Hospital.
• He earned his medical degree from the University of Stellenbosch. He completed both his M.Fam.Med and
• MMed (Dermatology) at University of the Free State in South Africa.
-
• Dr Visser has a passion for medical education and teaching. He is current treasurer of the Dermatological Society of South Africa (DSSA)
• His research focuses on skin cancer, especially in patients with skin of color
• Dr Visser has authored a number of publications and book chapters
-
• He has delivered lectures, locally and internationally. He is actively involved in a number of community projects and provides consulting services to peripheral hospitals and clinics
-
• Vice President of the Melanoma Society South Africa
• Dr Willie Visser is the Head of Dermatology at University of Stellenbosch, Tygerberg Academic Hospital
Meet Dr. Sze Wai Chan
VICE PRESIDENT
-
• MBBCh (Wits), FCP (SA), MMed (Wits), Cert Medical Onoclogy(SA) Phys.
• Dr Chan was born in Hong Kong and came to South Africa in 1993. She has completed all her medical training @ the University of the Witwatersrand
-
• Dr Chan is the Director and head of the clinical trial research unit at Sandton Oncology
• She is the principal and sub-investigator in many current and past global and local clinical trials
• She is passionate in the molecular advances of cancer and in immunotherapy and strives to make these novel treatments available locally
• She has a special interest in lung cancer and melanoma, among various cancer types
-
• Dr Chan has been actively participating in various local and international congresses and she gives lectures and talks to doctors and communities regularly. She participates in advisory board meetings with various pharmaceutical companies
-
• Vice President of the Melanoma Society South Africa
• She is a member of the South African Oncology Consortium (SAOC)
• ICON Oncology
• The International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC)
• European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) and American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO)
• She is an EXCO-member of the South African Society of Medical Oncology (SASMO)
Meet Dr. Johann de Wet
DERMATOLOGIST - SECRETARY
-
Dr Johann de Wet is a dermatologist and Mohs Micrographic Surgeon in private practice in Stellenbosch. He holds an academic appointment as Honorary lecturer at the Division of Dermatology at Stellenbosch University and is currently involved in research at the departments of Dermatology and Anatomic Pathology focusing on the treatment of Lentigo Maligna.
Dr de Wet was awarded his Fellowship from the College of Dermatologists with distinction and obtained his MMed degree in Dermatology from the University of Stellenbosch Cum Laude. He is also a graduate of the University of Cardiff in Wales and of the University of Queensland, Australia. Dr De Wet completed a fellowship in Mohs Micrographic Surgery through the American Society of Dermatological Surgery and also holds a fellowship from the College of Family Physicians of Canada.
-
• Dr De Wet is the recipient of accolades such as the Jansen Research Foundation medal,
• The Peter Gordon-Smith medal
• Stellenbosch University Rector’s medical for excellent academic achievement.
• He was also awarded the Discovery Foundation Academic Research Fellowship Award for his work on melanoma skin cancer and Mohs Micrographic Surgery.
-
-
• Dermatologist - Secretary of the Melanoma Society South Africa
Meet Dr. Mark Phipson
-
• Qualification FCS(SA)(Plast). Date October 2003. Institution College of Medicine of SA
• Qualification MBBCh. Date 1995. Institution University of the Witwatersrand
• Qualification ATLS. Date March 1997. Institution Trauma Unit Johannesburg Hospital
• Qualification ACLS. Date April 1997. Institution UCLB Criticare
• Qualification Basic Surgical Skills Course. Date September 1998
• Institution Royal College of Surgeons of England. Qualification ACLS update. Date June 1999
• Institution Dr W Kloeck. Qualification ACLS update. Date April 2021
• Institution Africa Institute of Emergency Medicine. Tertiary Qualification MBBCh. Date 1995
• Institution University of the Witwatersrand
-
-
-
• Employer Self Period 2004 – present Position Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon at Mediclinic. Sandton
• Employer Johannesburg Hospital Period 1 January 2004 – 30 September 2004
• Position Consultant Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon Employer Johannesburg HospitalPeriod 1 November 1999 – 31 December 2003
• Position Registrar Plastic and Reconstructive Surgerry Employer Helen Joseph Hospital (Mr GJ Oettle) Period January 1999 – July 1999
• Position Honorary Surgical Registrar Employer Johannesburg Hospital Period 1 January 1998 – 31 December 1998
Position Senior House Officer on the surgical rotation Employer JG Strijdom Hospital (Helen Joseph Hospital) Period 1 January 1996 – 31 December 1996
Position Intern Employer Kent and Sussex Hospital – United Kingdom Period 1 May 1997 – 5 August 1997
Position Senior House Officer in Internal Medicine Employer Various locums in United Kingdom Period 25 October 1997 – 6 December 1997
Meet Dr. Bianca Tod
DERMATOLOGIST - TREASURER
-
• She studied medicine at the University of the Witwatersrand, qualifying in 2005, and completed her specialization in dermatology at Stellenbosch University in 2014.
• She is currently working on her PhD. Her special interest is acral melanoma, and this is the central theme of her PhD project.
-
-
-
• Dermatologist - Treasurer of the Melanoma Society South Africa
• Dermatologist and senior lecturer at Tygerberg Academic Hospital and Stellenbosch University Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences
Meet Dr Jeremy D. O’Kennedy
-
• Dr Jeremy O’Kennedy completed his undergraduate medical studies at the University of Pretoria in 2010, completing his 2-year internship at the Steve Biko Academic Hospital.
• In 2013, Dr O’Kennedy joined the SAMHS, at the Institute for Aviation Medicine. He qualified, and was appointed as, military Flight Surgeon (Capt.), Aviation Medical Examiner (AME) and Hyperbaric Medicine Operator (HMO). During his service he was awarded with a Nelson Mandela medal for his work during the Lagos building collapse disaster and the death and illness of the former head of State. Dr O’Kennedy has additional qualifications and certifications in Aviation Medicine (PRET), Travel Medicine (Wits), Disaster Medicine (Stanford/SEMPER) and Infectious Disease (FPD).
• He joined the Dermatology registrar program at the Universitas Academic Complex/UFS in May 2016, attaining his Fellowship in 2019 and Master of Medicine degree in February 2020. Dr O’Kennedy was the first graduate in the history of the program to achieve full qualification credits within 36 months of the 48-month program.
-
• In April 2020, due to his qualifications and special expertise in disaster medicine, Dr O’Kennedy was appointed as Special Adviser to the HoD/Premier and served on the FSP COVID-19 command council for a year.
• In January 2021, Dr O’Kennedy joined the Morningside Mediclinic Hospital in Sandton, as specialist dermatologist in private practice. Dr O’Kennedy has served on numerous pharmaceutical and product development advisory boards. He has a passion for teaching and the advancement of evidence-based medicine and uncompromising practice-excellence in dermatology.
Meet Dr Johann Schneider
-
Dr Johann Schneider (MBChB, MMed (Anat Path) cl, FCPath) is an anatomical pathologist interested in dermatopathology and HIV/AIDS-related malignancies. Following his qualification as an anatomical pathologist in 1990, he pursued an academic career at Stellenbosch University (SU) and Tygerberg Hospital until 2000, when he was appointed Professor and Head of the Department of Anatomical Pathology. From 2001 to 2006, Johann Schneider was a member of the Faculty Management and Head of the School of Basic and Applied Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (FMHS), SU. He was the Executive Head of the Department of Pathology at SU and the National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS) at Tygerberg Hospital from 2006 to 2012. In 2012, he was appointed Professor and Head of the Division of Anatomical Pathology, Department of Pathology, FMHS, SU and NHLS. He became the director of the NCI-supported Aids Malignancy Consortium (AMC) and ACSR Sub Saharan Africa Regional Biospecimen Repository (SSA RBR) at SU in 2013. His research focuses on areas relevant to South Africa and Africa, including cutaneous tuberculosis, HIV-related malignancies and acral melanoma. He collaborates closely with several international research groups from the USA and Africa. Dr Schneider is the author or co-author of 86 peer-reviewed publications and has contributed to more than 130 presentations at national and international congresses. Following his retirement at the end of 2023, Johann Schneider pursues his research as a part-time professor in the Division of Anatomical Pathology, SU. He joined AMPATH, Cape Town, on 01 March 2024 as a part-time anatomical pathologist.
-
• Contributions at 95 national and 36 international congresses and symposia.
• Member, International Academy of Pathology (IAP) (South African Division).
• Member, IAP (International Education Committee), 2006 - 2014.
• Secretary: IAP (SA Division), 2003 – 2007.
• Postgraduate examiner, convenor and moderator in Anatomical Pathology, FCPath (SA) (Anat) Part I & II, CMSA, 1999 - 2022.
• Postgraduate examiner in Anatomical Pathology, FCPath (Oral) Part I; FC Derm, Part I, FCMFOS (SA) Part 1, FCD(SA) Part I: CMSA
• Postgraduate examiner MMed (Anat Path): Makerere University, Uganda: 2010; University of
• Pretoria: 2013, 2015; University of the Free State: 2014, 2017, 2020; University of Zimbabwe: 2020, 2022; Sefako Makgatho: 2023
• Module convenor and examiner in Anatomical Pathology for registrars in clinical disciplines, University of Stellenbosch – 2000 – Current
• Supervisor or co-supervisor for 1 PhD, 1 MChD and 22 MMed assignments, 2 M Pathology research projects, 3 MSc Cytopathology projects, 2 BMedSc projects, and 1 HonsBScMedSc project, University of Stellenbosch.
• Member, Committee for Continuous Professional Development, University of Stellenbosch – 2002 - 2021
• Member, Committee for Postgraduate Teaching, University of Stellenbosch, 2001 – 2012.
• Member, National Academic Pathology Committee (NHLS) – 2002 – 2012.
• Member of the Organising Committee and Convenor, Scientific Committee, XXIX Congress of the International Academy of Pathology, October 2012 Cape Town, South Africa.
• Principal investigator and Director: NCI-supported AIDS Malignancy Consortium and AIDS and
• Cancer Specimen Resource Sub Saharan Africa Biorepository: 2013 – current.
• Principal investigator: NIH-funded research project: Origin and Lineage of Differentiation of Kaposi's
• Sarcoma, 2015 – 2018.
• Co-Principal investigator: NIH-funded research project: Kaposi Sarcoma Care, 2020 – current.
• Co-investigator: NIH-funded research project: Exploring Viral and Immunological Factors of HPV- associated Cancers in People Living with HIV (PLWH) and its Relation to Survival, 2023.
• Member: Anatomical Pathology Expert Committee, NHLS: 2012 – current.
• Member: Executive Committee of the AIDS and Cancer Specimen Resource: 2014 – current.
• Member: Scientific and Technology Work Group, AIDS and Cancer Specimen Resource: 2014 – current.
• Member: Biobank Subcommittee of the SA Medical Research Council Ethics Committee, 2016 – 2019.
• Organiser of Annual Biobanking Seminars under the auspices of the ACSR: 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021.
• Member: Scientific Committee, 3rd Pathology Research and Development Congress – PathReD
• 2019, 18th to 21st July 2019, Destiny Hotel and Convention Centre, Johannesburg, South Africa.
• Member: Scientific Committee and convenor of the Anatomical Pathology Advisory Committee, 5th
• Pathology Research and Development Congress – PathReD 2023, Destiny Hotel and Convention Centre, Johannesburg, South Africa.