Congratulations are in order for Prof Nelesh Govender who was recently promoted to Professor in the School of Pathology at the University of the Witwatersrand. Govender began his career in public health 15 years ago when was the appointed head of the Centre for Healthcare-Associated Infections, Antimicrobial Resistance and Mycoses Surveillance (GERMS) at the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD).

His position allows him to work closely with the National Department of Health (NDOH) in generating evidence that will help guide government policy.

As the President of the Federation of Infectious Disease Societies of Southern Africa and a member of the Ministerial Advisory Committee on antimicrobial resistance (AMR), Govender’s area of expertise includes medical mycology and AMR, in specific antifungal resistance. With impressive MBBCh, DTM&H, FCPath (Micro) qualifications under his belt, his career success includes leading the implementation and evaluation of a national cryptococcal disease screen-and-treat intervention in the country, serving as a co-chair of the South African cryptococcal disease guidelines panel and being a member of the World Health Organization’s cryptococcal disease and advanced HIV disease guidelines panel.

Learn more about The Centre for Healthcare-Associated Infections, Antimicrobial Resistance and Mycoses (CHARM)

The Faculty Research Day and Postgraduate Expo 2018, from the University of the Witwatersrand, took place on the 6^th of September. Whereof the event attracted over 300 postgraduate students and staff members.

Ntando’s research poster presentation, and noting contributions from contributing authors, titled “Circulating levels of HIV-1-specific IgG differentially affect antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxic and phagocytic responses in HIV-1 infected individuals” talks about how immune responses control HIV-1 infection could contribute to developing strategies to treat or prevent HIV-1 infection.

The study, conducted on HIV-1 infected South Africans, looked at the engagement of HIV-specific IgG (antibody) with Fc-gamma receptors expressed on immune cells activates powerful antiviral responses.

Her research abstract (together with other authors) presentation titled ‘’Isolation and characterisation of HIV-specific vaccine-induced monoclonal antibodies’’ speaks about RV144 (an HIV vaccine trial) as the only vaccine trial to have demonstrated some level of efficacy (31%) against HIV infection.

The programme theme with which she won under focuses on infectious diseases, also known as contagious diseases/transmissible diseases/communicable diseases. Such diseases comprise clinically evident illness resulting from the infection, presence and growth of pathogenic biological agents in an individual host organism.

The best Scientific Poster Presentation is judged on quality and accessibility of science.

The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) congratulates Professor Lucille Blumberg on her South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) Special Award which recognises her staunch work in keeping the public protected from infectious disease.

The SAMRC runs an annual Scientific Merit Awards programme that recognises outstanding contributions to health research in South Africa by local and international scientists. There are three main award categories, Silver for achievements by emerging scientists, Gold for achievements by established scientists and Platinum for exceptional achievements by seasoned scientists.

Professor Blumberg’s work has been very instrumental in helping not only understand but strengthen efforts towards the fight against tropical diseases, malaria, the viral haemorrhagic fevers, rabies and diphtheria to name a few. Her outstanding research and contribution in the abovementioned areas have been of critical importance in academia, infectious disease surveillance and response, and the epitome of sustainable groundbreaking research.

The Special Award honours an esteemed scientist for extraordinary contributions to health research. The recipient is nominated by the SAMRC President and endorsed by the SAMRC Board. We wish to extend our gratitude in honouring her contributions to health research.