Dr Thozama Siyotula is a distinguished paediatric surgeon at Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa. With a profound interest in hepatobiliary, transplant, thoracic and neonatal surgical outcomes. She completed her undergraduate training in 2011 at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. Furthering her studies she went on to specialise in paediatric surgery through the Colleges of Medicine of South Africa, completing her FCPaedSurg (SA) in 2021 and a master’s in medicine (Paediatric Surgery) in 2021 at the University of Cape Town. She currently works as a paediatric surgeon and transplant surgeon. A senior lecture at the University of Cape Town and course convenor for the 5th year undergraduate paediatric surgery program at the University of Cape Town.
Her involvement in executive committees in a leadership position has allowed her the opportunity to lead, organize conferences, conduct research, create and implement change at various levels. She is involved as a member of SATS, SAAPS and an IPTA executive committee member for multi-organ transplant and organ allocation. She has a passion to prioritize paediatric organ allocation and strategies to improve transplant outcomes in South Africa. Past president of the South African Paediatric Surgical Trainees Association and previous executive member of South African Society of Surgeons in Training.
A recipient of the IPTA Future Leaders Career Development Award for her contributions to the field of Paediatric Solid Organ Transplantation.
Awarded the ESOT Educational Global grant for 2022 to attend the HESPERIS 2022 course in Italy. She is currently involved as a mentee in the ESOT Mentorship Programme 2024. She is the recipient of the Mail and Guardian 200 Young South Africans of 2020.
She advocates for paediatric equity to surgical access via her involvement in global Surgery. She is also an alumnus of the executive leadership in Global Surgery at the Graduate School of Business at the University of Cape Town. Her passion is that every child has access to the best surgical care regardless of their socio-economic status or geographical location in the country. She would like to be an apart of creating solutions regarding the surgical care of children in South Africa.