Research is conducted in key health areas to improve the health of South Africans. These include cardiothoracic surgery, cervical cancer research, radiation treatment, understanding in the field of pathogenic yeasts – with a focus on the development of disease in people with compromised immune systems. Additionally, the UFS is also doing work on cancer, diabetes, hypertension, and mental problems, based on traditional knowledge, traditional medicines, and plants such as medicinal cannabis.

The department would like to advance IK-based innovation by transforming informal sectors into formal secondary economies that will be translated into actual decent job creation.