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Welcome to the April/May 2023 edition of our newsletter. April was an incredibly busy and exciting month for CERI and KRISP, centered around the launch of the CLIMADE (Climate Amplified Diseases and Epidemics) consortium and the inauguration of the R1.2 billion Biomedical Research Institute (BMRI) at Stellenbosch University. This events brought together leading experts and stakeholders from all over the world to celebrate this momentous occasion and the state-of-the-art facilities that will enable us to lead the way in genomic research.

At the same time, 36 fellows from 18 different African countries joined us for an intensive two-week genomics and bioinformatics workshop we hosted at CERI, as part of our fellowship programme. This training initiative and our continued efforts in genomics surveillance and pandemic response helped to re-emphasise the importance of capacity building and knowledge transfer between scientists in the global south.

This issue's highlights are:

News: Search for Diseases Supercharged by Climate Change: The CLIMADE consortium

News: How Africa could protect the world from new pathogens

News: Scientists warn climate change will increase the spread of infectious diseases

News: Abbott And New Global Consortium Partnership Tackle Viral Outbreaks Caused By Climate Change

News: This is the ‘highest level of science’ – inside the new Biomedical Research Institute

News: Africa’s Most Sophisticated Biomedical Research Centre Opens in South Africa

Feature: Launch of the International Pathogen Surveillance Network, Geneva, 30 May

Feature: First annual report the WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence

Publication: Rapid epidemic expansion of chikungunya virus-ECSA lineage in Paraguay

Publication: Evaluation of miniaturized Illumina DNA preparation protocols for SARS-CoV-2 whole genome sequencing

Publication: HIV-1 drug resistance in people on dolutegravir-based ART: Collaborative analysis of cohort studies

Training: Genomics and Bioinformatics Training Workshop, CERI, 11 – 21 April

We hope you enjoy it and find it informative. We welcome any feedback about content or format.

The concept behind this newsletter is that anyone with 15 minutes to spare can learn about the work of the Centre for Epidemic Response and Innovation (CERI) at Stellenbosch University and the KwaZulu-Natal Research Innovation and Sequencing Platform (KRISP), which is hosted at University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), Durban, South Africa

CERI and KRISP want to challenge the status quo and create a scientific environment in South Africa that drives innovations in global health and reverses the brain drain. The way we challenge the status quo is by attracting, training and retaining both top (South) African scientists that understand the problem from the ground level and the best international minds that are committed to our vision…

News date: 2023-05-02

Links:

https://krisp.org.za/manuscripts/CERI_KRISPnewsletter_Vol6(4)_AprMay.pdf