We are delighted to announce that Professor Frank Tanser has joined CERI as Director of Population Health Innovation. Frank is a leading South African scientist whose research aims to evaluate and design intervention strategies to drive back the HIV epidemic and its negative consequences in communities hardest hit by the epidemic.

One highlight of the forum was meeting Barack Obama and Dr. Sonia Vallabh. Both have worked against major adversity to develop health solutions. Dr Vallabh is a scientist working on rapid dementia, a genetic disease that killed her mother, and she is also at risk of developing dementia.

Massive SARS-CoV-2 sequencing project in Africa brings global benefits. Nature coverage of our pan-African manuscript in Science 2022.

Genomic sequencing enables live tracking of the spread of a virus. A Science paper, released on September 15th, 2022, analyzing more than 100,000 genomes, recalls the benefits of local sequencing while studying the spread dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 and its variants of interest on the African continent.

The BRICS Network for Genome Surveillance (NGS-BRICS) was established in 2021 and generates and investigates sequence data of viral pathogens of public health importance, such as COVID-19. In the interest of increasing bioinformatics and experimental expertise within BRICS countries. Applications close on 1st of August 2022.

A new scientific survey has found that the majority of Covid-19 variants in Africa were introduced from abroad. East Coast Radio coverage of our pan-African genomics surveillance paper in Science 2022

This month we reflect on how much the world has changed over the last two years. It is still too early to declare the pandemic over, but it is time to begin thinking about what can be done better and how best to prepare for future threats to global health.

Individuals from organizations affiliated with the Abbott Pandemic Defense Coalition & Rockefeller Pandemic Prevention Institute will participate in long- and short-term training opportunities at CERI/KRISP.

The last 2 years have made us fully aware of the devastating effects that a global pandemic can have. We appear to be past the worst of it, but it’s too early to say that it’s over. It is not too early, however, to begin thinking about what can be done better when the precursor to the next pandemic comes along.

Bioinformatician and Director of CERI and KRISP, Prof Tulio de Oliveira is profiled in The Lancet. Article written by Udani Samarasekera, 6 August 2022.

Nobody saw SARS-CoV-2 coming. In the early days of the pandemic, researchers were scrambling to collect samples from people who had mysteriously developed fevers, coughs, and breathing problems. Pretty soon, they realized that the disease-causing culprit was a new virus humans hadn’t seen before.

Presenter: Professor Francesco Petruccione, Professor of Quantum Computing, Stellenbosch University, Date: 24 Aug 2022, Locations: STIAS, Stellenbosch or virtually

Public health researchers say the term evokes racist stereotypes, reinforces offensive tropes about Africa and abets stigmatization that can prevent people from seeking care.

This intensive, hands-on workshop will use microbiome data as a backdrop to learn R. The workshop will feature morning & afternoon sessions taught by expert faculty and technical assistants. All participants will acquire fundamental computational skills, bioinformatics best practices, exploratory data analysis, and modeling techniques. Deadline for application - 7 Aug 2022.

Please find CERI’s & KRISP’s newsletter June/July issue of 2022. This month’s edition is a celebration of more awards and recognition of the tireless efforts of our teams towards the global pandemic response; but also a reflection on the future, not only of the evolution of COVID-19 sub-variants and their repercussions, but also the emergence or continuation of other viral threats. Another area of interest is the evolution of Monkey Pox to a global health emergency and what that means for the African continent.

Presenter: Dr.Suzanne McCluskey, Assistant Professor, Harvard Medical School, Date: 10 Aug 2022, Locations: KRITH seminar Room (K2), University of KwaZulu-Natal or virtually

The Stellenbosch University has received a grant from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) for Accelerating Genomics-based Surveillance for COVID-19 Response in South Africa (P177439) and intends to apply part of the proceeds to eligible payments for goods and consulting services to be procured under this project.

Stakeholder Engagement includes the process of engaging stakeholders for a clear purpose to achieve agreed outcomes. It is now also recognized as a fundamental accountability mechanism since it obliges an organization to involve stakeholders in identifying and understanding of the specific program/project and responding to issues and concerns raised by the stakeholders for decisions, actions, and hence improving program/project performance.

The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has since welcomed the decision made by WHO chief Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, but added that the continent had battled the virus before.

The prestigious 'Oscars' of the science, engineering and technology (SET) world took place on 21 July 2022. This, the 24th celebration of South African science, ingenuity, and innovation, is a shining light at a time when the world needs far more good news. The success stories that define this year’s Awards stand out for many reasons, but perhaps the most powerful is how they all showcase how science can play a significant role in driving sustainable development, improving quality of life, and connecting people and communities.

The first case of Covid-19 attributed to a new antibody-avoiding subvariant, BA.2.75, has been detected in Thailand, but experts do not foresee it causing serious outbreaks, according to the Centre for Medical Genomics.

The latest Omicron sub-variant BA.2.75, first detected in India in June, is not dangerous as "hyped" as it is not surging cases or death rates, according to global health experts.

Presenter: Professor Gerhard Walzl, Stellenbosch University Medical School, Date: 13 Jul 2022, Locations: JN De Villiers Auditorium, Tygerberg Campus or virtually

Variants of the original version of SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) first made headlines in December 2020. It was a sign that SARS-CoV-2 is more volatile than initially expected.

The BA.5 sub-variant has immuno-evasive properties that cause reinfection even after vaccination and previous illness

COVID-19’s highly transmissible omicron subvariants B.A.4 and B.A.5 drove South Africa’s fifth wave of infections and might offer clues to future outbreaks, experts say. The new variants spread faster than previous ones and caused a spike in hospitalizations in children under 9.

Please find CERI’s & KRISP’s newsletter June/July issue of 2022. What an eventful and action-packed period it has been! In this issue we feature our recent paper on the real-time tracking of the 2022 Monkeypox outbreak, the renaming of Monkeypox to remove the geographic stigma, and our Nature Medicine publication that identified the BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron lineages and how they drove the 5th wave in South Africa.

Presenter: Professor Douglas Pires ,School of Computing and Information Systems at the University of Melbourne, Australia. Date: 22 June2022, Locations: STIAS, Manor House Library, Wallenberg Centre, Stellenbosch or *VIRTUALLY

Laboratory Technologists (x2) at CERI in Stellenbosch University. The purpose of this position is to provide support to CERI's laboratory by conducting research, next generation sequencing and diagnostic tests to meet project deadlines and within allocated turnaround times.