Home: Event Details

Cutting edge research. Inspiring speakers. Building collaborations.

Acid Fast Club 2019 is just around the corner! Check out our full schedule and register today to ensure your seat is reserved. We look forward to seeing you at this exciting event.

Home: Overview

Schedule

12:10 PM

"Conquering TB: Divide and Culture"

Keynote Speaker Professor Bavesh Kana

12:30 PM

Scientific Talks

Charissa Naidoo: Tuberculosis treatment promotes a healthy sputum microbiome that, post-treatment, resembles that of contacts.
Davina Apiyo: The effect of environmental conditions on growth and phenotype switching in Mycobacterium smegmatis.
Tim de Wet: Large-Scale CRISPRi and quantitative imaging describe the morphotypic landscape of essential Mycobacterial genes.
Nabila Ismail: Step-wise acquisition of in vitro bedaquiline resistance.

13:30 PM

Short coffee break held in the foyer. Please grab a cup and make your way back to the talks.

Coffee Break

13:50 PM

Title TBA

Guest Speaker Dr Tobias Louw

14:10 PM

BLITZ presentations

What is a Blitz? A Blitz presentation is a series of 5-minute talks, each covering just a bite-sized bit of research. It will offer a fast-paced overview of some of the most exciting research presented at this year's poster session.
Speakers: Vinzeigh Leukes, Zama Mahlobo, Dimitri Griffault, Kristin Winkler

14:30 PM

Panel Discussion

Expert clinician and researcher Dr Sean Wasserman from the Welcome Centre Clinical Research Platform at the IDM will lead the panel discussion with Prof Grant Theron, Dr Muki Shey and Dr Monique Williams.

15:00 PM

Grab a snack and something to drink and vote on your favourite poster in the foyer.

Poster and Drinks session

16:00 PM

First prize announcement for best scientific talk, BLITZ and poster.

Prize Giving

Home: Schedule

Professor Bavesh Kana

Director of DST/NRF Centre of Excellence for Biomedical TB Research

Professor Bavesh Kana is Director of the University of the Witwatersrand node of the DST/NRF Centre of Excellence for Biomedical TB Research, Johannesburg, South Africa. He focuses on identifying new drug and vaccine targets in the mycobacterial cell wall. In addition, he explores bacterial biomarkers to monitor treatment response and risk of disease recurrence and in this context, he has probed the replication competency of tubercle bacteria resident the sputum of TB patients with and without comorbid HIV infection. He is also involved in the development of next-generation diagnostic verification reagents for quality assurance and verification of tuberculosis molecular diagnostics, resistance and energy metabolism in mycobacteria. His work has enhanced existing perceptions of these topics and currently, he aims to investigate how these phenomena determine the outcome of TB infection in HIV positive/negative people.

Dr Tobie Louw

Senior Lecturer Process Engineering

Dr Louw's primary research interest is the mathematical modeling and analysis of current multi-scale biomolecular engineering problems. Mathematics provides the tools whereby processes can be optimized for energy, time and cost and is essential for effective technology transfer. His ultimate goal is to use these skills to develop and deploy biotechnology in South Africa.

Home: Speakers