A personal experience during pregnancy led University of Pretoria (UP) senior lecturer Dr Hafsa Essop to develop an innovative tool aimed at protecting pregnant radiographers and their unborn babies.

Essop, a senior lecturer in UP’s Department of Radiography with a PhD in Diagnostic Radiography, developed PregiDose after finding that pregnant radiographers were not always using pregnancy dosimeters to monitor fetal radiation exposure.

“PregiDose is incredibly close to my heart because the idea was born while I was pregnant with my first daughter.”

During her pregnancy, she was issued a pregnancy dosimeter, a safety device used to measure cumulative fetal radiation dose, but said she did not know how to use it.

The lecturer approached previously pregnant workers for advice and found that some had also not used the devices or tracked their fetal doses.

“I was bewildered to hear this, particularly given that ionising radiation has the potential to increase the risk of fetal abnormalities and childhood cancer,” Essop said.

The experience prompted her doctoral research, which eventually led to PregiDose.

According to Essop, her research demonstrated the need for PregiDose to develop from a manually managed system to one that automatically monitors information.

“Much like today’s smartwatches and wearable technologies, PregiDose 2.0 aims to seamlessly integrate radiation dose monitoring through automated data capture, making fetal dose monitoring more accurate, efficient and user-friendly,” she said.

Essop’s work has also earned international recognition.

In 2023, she won the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) Claire Cousins Award in Tokyo, Japan.

“That has been one of the defining moments of my career.”

She said the award validated her research and the importance of representing South Africa on an international platform.

Essop also serves on the Society of South African Radiographers’ (SORSA) Pregnancy and Pediatrics Task Team and was recently appointed Scientific Chair of the SORSA 2027 Congress.

She is a member of the ICRP, where she serves as a mentee on a task group reviewing the classification of harmful radiation-induced health effects for radiological protection purposes.

Her current post-doctoral research focuses on regulations surrounding fetal dose record-keeping, intending to provide evidence-based recommendations that could inform international policy.

In October, Essop is expected to travel to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters in Vienna to present her research findings.

Essop said developing PregiDose beyond a research prototype has presented its challenges, including funding, market research, hosting, maintenance and scaling.

“Advancing PregiDose into a publicly accessible tool and advocating for the rights of pregnant workers practising in radiation environments has become more than a research project; it has become a calling and a sense of purpose,” she said.

She hopes PregiDose will eventually become publicly accessible and a leading tool in pregnancy dosimetry.

The award-winning senior lecturer encouraged young women interested in science, innovation and higher education not to let self-doubt hold them back.

“You are smart. You are capable. You are enough. Never let self-doubt convince you otherwise. If you can dream it, you can certainly achieve it.”

Congratulations to Dr Hafsa Essop, winner of the 2026 SAWiSA Distinguished Young Woman Researcher Award!

Dr Essop is a Senior Lecturer in Radiography at UP whose research focuses on radiation protection, with an emphasis on foetal dosimetry and occupational exposure among… pic.twitter.com/ipFXzIHKLN

— South African Government (@GovernmentZA) August 20, 2026

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