UCT Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine

22/09/2026

Join us tomorrow for the IDM seminar featuring Prof. Mohlopheni.

31/08/2026

Tuberculous meningitis (TBM) kills or disables around half of those affected, yet until now, there has been no international clinical practice guideline for its diagnosis and treatment. The last dedicated guidance dated back to 2009.

A global consortium spanning nine countries, including South Africa, has just published the first evidence-based guideline in The Lancet Infectious Diseases, covering diagnosis, drug treatment, adjunctive therapies, and neurocritical care.

Key findings:
🔹 No single test can rule out TBM, treatment often has to start on clinical suspicion alone
🔹 Corticosteroids reduce mortality, particularly in patients without HIV co-infection
🔹 Evidence for higher-dose rifampicin remains inconclusive; major trial results (HARVEST, INTENSE-TBM) are expected in 2025–2026
🔹 Significant gaps remain in neurosurgical and critical care guidance flagging priorities for future research

This work matters because TBM disproportionately affects young children and immunocompromised people in exactly the settings where guidance has historically been thinnest.

Read the full guideline: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40840485/

25/08/2026

What can early treatment tell us about preventing life-threatening cryptococcal disease?

Join us tomorrow for the next IDM CPD-accredited seminar, where Dr Kyla Murphy will present findings from the Phase III EFFECT Trial: Efficacy of Flucytosine and Fluconazole as Early Cryptococcal Treatment.

The EFFECT Trial investigates whether adding flucytosine to fluconazole can improve outcomes for people with HIV-associated cryptococcal antigenaemia before the development of cryptococcal meningitis, an important step towards reducing HIV-related mortality.

The trial involved research sites across South Africa and Tanzania, with the results providing important evidence on how early cryptococcal disease could be treated.

📅 Wednesday, 26 August 2026
🕐 13:00–14:00
📍 Neuroscience Institute Auditorium
🎤 Speaker: Dr Kyla Murphy

Dr Murphy works in clinical trials of new and repurposed antifungal drugs for HIV-associated cryptococcal infection, with a particular interest in understanding cryptococcal disease from infection and dissemination through to CNS invasion.

🔗 Read our latest article on the EFFECT Trial and UCT’s contribution:
https://idm.uct.ac.za/articles/2026-08-25-uct-led-site-contributes-landmark-effect-trial-hiv-related-fungal-disease

All are welcome.

19/08/2026

What does it take to make sustainability part of the way we do science?

Over the past two years, the IDM’s Sustainable Science Initiative has been turning that question into action. Across green energy, carbon footprinting, laboratory sustainability, water and waste.

Read the full story of two years of sustainable transformation at the IDM. 👇

https://idm.uct.ac.za/articles/2026-08-19-proof-biomedical-research-can-be-sustainable

13/08/2026

What does it take to build a career in science?
Yesterday’s IDM Seminar, offered more than career advice. It was a candid conversation about the mindset, resilience and choices that shape a career in research.

Some of the key messages that emerged:

🔬 Be passionate about what you do. A genuine interest in your area of research can help sustain you through the challenges of a research career.

💪 Persevere. Funding is uncertain, opportunities can be competitive, and career paths rarely unfold exactly as planned. Persistence matters.

🍀 Make room for luck and opportunity. You can’t always predict where an opportunity will lead, but you can put yourself in a position to recognise it.

💭 Learn from negative feedback. Not every rejection or criticism is a setback. Reflecting on feedback can help you strengthen your work and grow as a researcher.

🧭 Know what matters to you. Building an independent career isn't just about achieving the next milestone. It's also about understanding your own values, priorities and what you want your career to mean.

🤝 Don't underestimate the power of mentorship. The right mentor can help you navigate uncertainty, recognise opportunities, learn from setbacks and make informed decisions about your career. For some of our speakers, mentors played an important role in shaping their journeys.

Thank you to Dr Sonwabile Dzanibe, Dr Melissa-Rose Abrahams and Dr Fezile Khumalo for sharing their experiences, insights and honest reflections with the IDM community.

Learn more about the IDM Mentorship Programme here - https://idm.uct.ac.za/mentorship-working-group

06/08/2026

🎥 Seminar Highlights

How do scientists discover new medicines before malaria develops resistance?

Yesterday, Dr Kathryn Wicht took us behind the science of designing new antimalarial compounds and uncovering how they work against Plasmodium falciparum.

Her research combines medicinal chemistry with biological studies to identify promising drug candidates while revealing the mechanisms behind drug action and resistance. This is knowledge that is critical for developing the next generation of malaria treatments.

▶️ Watch a few moments from yesterday's seminar.

31/07/2026

31/07/2026

We are all responsible for the health of the Earth. The IDM has been on a journey to reduce the impact that biomedical science has on the environment. Swipe through to see our journey thus far. 🌱 For more info - https://idm.uct.ac.za/sustainability

23/07/2026

Missed yesterday's IDM Seminar with Prof Graeme Meintjes?

Here's a glimpse of the afternoon as Prof Meintjes shared findings and implications from the NewStrat-TB trial in patients with disseminated HIV-associated TB.

Thank you to everyone who joined us.

29/06/2026

How do we make global microscopy training actually work for the regions that need it most?
A study in the Journal of Microscopy analysed over 2,300 applications across seven international microscopy workshops, including the Imaging Africa programme, and found some striking patterns.

It's a compelling case for demand-driven, locally informed approaches to scientific capacity-building and Africa Microscopy Initiative and IDM's Michael Reiche are part of this story.

Read the full article: https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105035460048?origin=resultslist