Cape Town researchers lead R100 million initiative to fight deadly fungal infections
UCT scientists join global R100m effort to study and combat deadly fungal infections.
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Researchers at the University of Cape Town are part of a major international effort backed by about R100 million to combat fungal infections that kill an estimated 2.5 million people worldwide each year.
The funding, awarded by the Wellcome Trust, will support the Mycology Bioimaging Initiative (MBI), a collaboration aimed at developing tools to better understand how dangerous fungal pathogens grow, spread and cause disease.
The initiative brings together scientists from UCT, the University of Exeter and the University of Edinburgh, combining expertise in imaging, infection biology and data science to address gaps in fungal disease research.
Fungal infections affect an estimated 6.5 million people annually, with the greatest burden in low- and middle-income countries. Despite this, they remain poorly understood, slowing progress in diagnosis and treatment.
At UCT, Professor Jennifer Hoving from the Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine and Professor Rachael Dangarembizi from the Neuroscience Institute are leading key parts of the work.
Hoving said the project would help strengthen research capacity in regions hardest hit by fungal disease.
“Using advanced technologies embedded in our local context, while being globally connected, helps to ensure that expertise and technologies remain within the regions most impacted by disease. This approach reduces delays in diagnosis, guides more effective treatment strategies, and ultimately improves health outcomes for vulnerable populations,” she said.
The UCT team will focus in part on Emergomyces, a fungal pathogen first identified in South Africa in 2013 and now recognised as a cause of widespread infection and death if left untreated.
Dangarembizi will lead efforts to better understand how infection by Cryptococcus neoformans causes brain damage, using advanced bioimaging tools to track how the pathogen spreads and affects the brain.
“This funding from the Wellcome Trust enables us to establish advanced bioimaging platforms and molecular tools that will accelerate fungal research in Africa. With these technologies, we can interrogate disease mechanisms with unprecedented resolution, revealing how fungal pathogens spread through and disrupt the brain during infection,” she said.
The initiative will also invest in training and knowledge exchange through workshops and researcher exchanges, with a focus on building bioimaging expertise across Africa.
Researchers say the combination of global collaboration and local capacity is expected to improve understanding of fungal diseases and help deliver better outcomes for vulnerable populations.