HIV and STIThe Centre for HIV & Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI) aims to be a resource of knowledge and expertise in HIV and other regionally relevant STIs to the South African Government, to SADC countries and to the African continent at large, in order to assist in the planning of policies and programmes related to the control and effective management of HIV/STIs. The Centre also aims to be a place of academic excellence in terms of both research and teaching/training. The Centre has a strong track record in the research disciplines of HIV virology, HIV immunology, HIV/STI epidemiology, HIV/STI diagnostics and HIV-STI interactions, as well as in successful supervision of MSc and PhD students. The Centre for HIV & STIs was recently created by the amalgamation of five separate NICD sections: the Virology Laboratory (Head: Professor Lynn Morris) and Cell Biology Unit (Head: Professor Caroline Tiemessen) of the former AIDS Virus Research Unit, the HIV Molecular and Serology Laboratories of the former Specialized Molecular Diagnostics Unit (Head: Professor Adrian Puren), the former STI Reference Centre (Head: Professor David Lewis) and the World Health Organization-linked HPV LabNet Laboratory (Head: Professor Anna-Lise Williamson). The first four sections are based on NICD’s Sandringham campus and the last section is based at the University of Cape Town. Sections Sexually Transmitted Infections Head: Prof David Lewis The STI section is responsible for providing intelligence on the aetiology of major STI sydromes, as well as antimicrobial resistance data related to gonoccoccal infections. Findings are communciated annually to the national and relevant provincial health departments in South Africa as well as to those working in public health and directly with STI patients. The STI Reference section also undertakes teaching and training activities, assisting with training of medical sceintists,doctors,nurses and other healthcare staff. The STI section undertakes operational research relevant to public health and to that end it has estblished several international links with STI researchers overseas. Virology Laboratory Head: Lynn Morris The Laboratory conducts research projects primarily on the virology and immunology of HIV. It also serves important functions for drug resistant surveillance for the National Department of Health as well as validated end point assays for HIV vaccine trials. Researchers in this lab were involved in important trials including the ground breaking CAPRISA 004 study which showed that 1% tenofovir gel could prevent HIV infenction by 39%. Samples from a phase I clinical trial of the SAAVI vaccines were tested at the laboratory for immunogenicity. More recently in 2012, Professor Lynn Morris and Dr Penny Moore, were pivotal in the discovery that a weakness exists in the human immunodeficiency virus that enables certain people to produce potent antibodies which are able to kill up to 88% of strains of the virus from around the world. The study, performed by the Centre for the Aids Programme of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA) consortium, which involves scientists from the NICD, University of the Witwatersrand, University of KwaZulu-Natal, University of Cape Town, University of North Carolina and Harvard University, was published in Nature Medicine. Cell Biology Laboratory Head: Prof Caroline Tiemessen The Laboratory's has focused particularly on studies of maternal-infant HIV-1 transmission as a model for understanding protective immunity to HIV-1. Studying the immune responses and other characteristics of both mothers and their infants allows the team to address questions of protective immunity (why some infants succumb to infection and others not), of disease progression in the HIV-1 infected mothers, and of acute infection in infants who become infected. Key findings using this model have included the discovery of two innate immune correlates of protective immunity to HIV-1: (i) elevated production of the chemokine CCL3/MIP-1? and higher gene copy number of CCL3L, and (ii) unusual HIV-peptide specific natural killer (NK) cells. Innate immune responses are first to act upon initial encounter with HIV-1 and again on subsequent re-encounters; these early events have to be evaded by HIV-1 to successfully establish infection in the host. Understanding mechanisms of defence employed by the host to prevent the establishment of infection with HIV-1, and to protect the host from accelerated disease progression when already infected, will provide the basis for designing effective and better targeted interventions of protection. The HIV Molecular and Serology Laboratories Head: Prof Adrian Puren This former Special Molecular Diagnostic Unit, has functions consisting of clinical diagnostics,research,surveillance and training. Primary diagnostics tests include CD4 counts, HIV DNA PCR fro ealry infant diagnosis,HIV viral load monitoring, as well as specialised PCR tests for diagnosis of herpes simplex virus,cytomegalovirus,enterovirus and JC virus. The serology laboratory coordinates the HIV prevelance etsting for the annual Department of Health antenatal survey and also has completed HIV incidences testing up to 2010 using the BED capture ELISA. In addition, the laboratory has introduced a limiting antigen avidity index to determine whether the assay alone or in combination ro as part of an algorithm will improve incidence estimates. Teh serology laboratory will apply this approach to a microdicide study and the Human Science Research Council's general population HIV prevelance and incidence study. For Publications of the Centre for HIV and STIs click the link below: http://nicd.ac.za/?page=centre_for_hiv_and_sti_publications&id=170 Contact details: Cinah Palmer Secretary: Sexually Transmitted Infections section email: cinahp@nicd.ac.za Tel: 011 555 0468 Sheila Doig PA to Prof Lynn Morris email : sheilad@nicd.ac.za Tel: 011 386 6362 Monica Van Rensburg Secretary to Prof Adrian Puren email: monicavr@nicd.ac.za Tel: 011 386 6462 |
