Professor Bulie Magula, Class of ’85. BSc, MBChB, FCP(SA), MSc, PhD

Professor Magula has served as the Head of Department of Internal Medicine at the University of KwaZulu-Natal for the past five years. Her responsibilities include oversight of the Undergraduate and Postgraduate Programs for the following sub-disciplines of Internal Medicine – Cardiology, Diabetes and Endocrinology, Gastroenterology, General Medicine, Geriatric Medicine, Infectious Diseases, Pulmonology, Nephrology, Rheumatology. She supervises Masters and PhD students and has oversight responsibility for clinical services in Internal Medicine in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. She has served as a Member of the University of KwaZulu-Natal Senate, Council (including sub-committees of Senate and Council), member of the Council for the College of Physicians (CMSA).

After completion of her Specialist training in Internal Medicine in 2002 at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, she was awarded the Fogarty Fellowship and completed her MSc in Clinical Research at the Graduate School of BioMedical Sciences at Tufts University. She was subsequently awarded the Discovery Foundation Fellowship to complete her PhD titled “Metabolic Complications of Antiretroviral Therapy in a South African Black Population” at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. She has a particular interest in the management of HIV disease and its intersection with non-communicable disease.

She has authored chapters and serves as section editor for the HIV section of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Textbook of Cardiovascular Medicine, 3rd Edition. The Textbook won the British Medical Association Book Award First Prize in Cardiology in 2019. She serves as Key Opinion Leader for eThekwini Municipality for Fast-Track Cities for the International Association for Providers of AIDS Care (IAPAC) in collaboration with the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).

Prof Magula served as a member of the Steering Committee for the University of Cape Town Institutional Reconciliation and Transformation Commission. She is a Founding member of the Tumelo Seliane Education Fund (TuSEF) at UKZN to support students facing financial difficulties. She serves on the selection committee for the Discovery Foundation for Academic Programs, Academic Fellowships and funding for Health services in under-served areas.

Prof Magula served as a member of the South African delegation on the Global Health Security Agenda hosted by the United States Government in 2016 under the International Visitor Leadership Program. She serves on the South African Ministerial Advisory Committee on COVID-19, KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Technical Advisory Committee on COVID-19 for the Member of the Executive Council for Health. She Chairs the KwaZulu-Natal Province Clinical Management Committee on COVID-19. 

She is a mother of three daughters and to many more who call her mother.