D. Warner - Collapsing boundaries in infectious diseases research

Digby Warner, Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine (IDM), University of Cape Town, South Africa speaks on "Collapsing boundaries in infectious diseases research".

Abstract and Bio
Digby Warner is the Professorial Director of the Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine (IDM) at the University of Cape Town. His research focuses on fundamental aspects of Mycobacterium tuberculosis metabolism, and the intersection of host, environmental, and bacterial factors driving M. tuberculosis transmission and tuberculosis (TB) disease risk. In recent years, he has developed a strong interest in the utilization of advanced microscopy in infectious disease research, and in making imaging technologies accessible to other researchers in low-resource settings. Examples include his involvement in the Africa Microscopy Initiative (www.microscopy.africa), a pioneering project which aims to increase the awareness and utilization of bioimaging across the continent, and initiatives including openScopes Africa and microbeScope, which aim to disseminate modular, open-access instruments for biomedical research and diagnostics. He also serves as co-founding Director of Eh!woza, (www.ehwoza.com), a community engagement platform with a focus on TB and its social impacts in high- burden communities.

In this talk, Prof. Warner will highlight recent developments in infectious disease research – including work focused on Mycobacterium tuberculosis – which are changing our understanding of host-bacterium interactions and the factors which pre-dispose to disease, as well as arguing for the critical importance of sustaining the capacity for multi- disciplinary, discovery research in disease-endemic settings.