Join the Next #CERIseminar on Building a South African Clinical Metagenomics Platform
The Centre for Epidemic Response and Innovation (CERI) warmly invites researchers, clinicians, and public-health professionals to its upcoming #CERIseminar:
- Date & Time: Wednesday, 30 July 2025 | 12:00-13:00 SAST
- Venue: BMRI Room 3073, Tygerberg Campus, Stellenbosch University (or online—see link below)
- Host: Dr. Marije Hofstra, Researcher, CERI
- Topic: Developing the Tools for a Clinical Metagenomics Platform in South Africa
Talk Summary:
Clinical metagenomics promises to revolutionise infectious-disease diagnostics by identifying a wide range of pathogens in a single test. However, high costs and technical challenges have limited its routine use in resource-constrained settings. In this seminar, Dr Gert JK Marais will describe ’s laboratories—lowering barriers and advancing clinical metagenomics toward everyday diagnostic practice.
About the Speaker:
Dr Gert JK Marais is a clinical microbiologist and Crick Africa Network Career Acceleration Fellow at the University of Cape Town (UCT). He holds specialist fellowships in Medical Microbiology and Medical Virology from the College of Pathologists of South Africa, an MSc in Virology from Imperial College London, and an MMed in Virological and Microbiological Pathology from UCT. Currently completing a PhD in Bioinformatics at UCT, Dr Marais also serves as a contributing investigator at the Wellcome Centre for Infectious Diseases Research in Africa (CIDRI-Africa). His research focuses on developing novel molecular tools and bioinformatics pipelines to translate metagenomic diagnostics into clinical settings.
Earn CPD Points:
Participants will receive Continuing Professional Development credits.
Join online:
Click here to register and access the seminar link.
This news piece was published at the gem!
Click on the image above to read the gem, genomics, epidemics & microbes Vol 8 Issue 6, July 2025, or scan the qrcode.
News date: 2025-07-20
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