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Celebrating 100 Years of Health Sciences
the UK with Stuart Warren (1989–1992). This was followed
by postdoctoral stints at the University of Liverpool in the
UK as a British Ramsay Research Fellow with Nick Greeves
(1992–94) and at the Scripps Research Institute in the USA
as a Wellcome Trust International Prize Research Fellow
with K.C. Nicolaou (1994–96). He was a Sandler Sabbatical
Fellow at the University of California San Francisco in
the USA (2002), a US Fulbright Senior Research Scholar
at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in
the USA (2008) and a Visiting Professor at Pfizer in the
UK (2008). Professor Chibale’s current research interests
include discovery of potential drugs that fight malaria,
tuberculosis and helminth (parasitic worm), as well as
cardiovascular and fibrosis diseases.
Immunology of Infectious
Diseases in Africa
Professor Frank Brombacher, a NRF A1-rated researcher,
holds the SARChI Chair in Immunology of Infectious
Diseases in Africa, and heads up an extramural MRC
Research Unit in addition to his ICGEB Scientific
Co-ordinator position for Immunology and Infectious
Diseases. His group investigates immunological
mechanisms, regulation and protective host effector
functions in experimental murine infectious disease
models that are relevant to Africans, such as tuberculosis,
African trypanosomiasis, leishmaniasis and helminthic
infections, including bilharzia – four of the top ten
WHO-declared human threats. In addition, he and his
group are interested in chronic diseases, including
allergic asthma and colitis, that cause high morbidity and
mortality in humans.
Infection and Immunity of
Poverty-related Diseases
Keertan Dheda is Professor of Respiratory Medicine
and Director of the Lung Infection and Immunity
Unit within the Division of Pulmonology, Department
of Medicine. He is the recipient of several
prestigious awards, including the 2010 International
Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease
Scientific Award, and holds several large local and
multinational grants, including those sponsored by
the EU. His main research interests are the study
of the immunopathogenesis, epidemiology and
diagnosis of tuberculosis, including drug-resistant
TB. He is the co-author of more than 100 peer-
reviewed publications, holds patents that are being
commercialised, and serves on the editorial boards of
several peer-reviewed international journals.
Vaccinology
Professor Anne-Lise Williamson is a virologist on the joint
staff of the University of Cape Town and the National
Health Laboratory Service (NHLS). As she is a full member
of the IIDMM, her research activities are housed in this
Institute. She is internationally recognised for both her
HIV vaccine and Human Papillomavirus (HPV) expertise.
She has headed the South Africa AIDS Vaccine Initiative-
funded vaccine development team since 2000. This team
of people has been responsible for the development
of two vaccines currently in Phase 1 clinical trials in the
USA and South Africa, and the ongoing potency assay
for one of the vaccines is currently performed in the
UCT Vaccine Research Group Good Laboratory Practice
Facility. Professor Williamson is head of the World Health
Organisation’s HPV Labnet lab for the Africa Region and
joint head of the Molecular Epidemiology Laboratory
(UCT/NICD/NHLS).
Professor Frank Brombacher
Professor Keertan Dheda
Professor Anne-Lise Williamson
DST/NRF SARChI Chairs
associated with this theme