From NGS data to real-time tracking of viruses' outbreaks: NextStrain and Genome Detective workshop. KRISP, Nelson Mandela School of Medicine, UKZN, Durban, South Africa, 24-25 January. Training is free to post-graduate students of UKZN and members of the H3AbioNet Bioinformatics Network.

This month, we focused our newsletter on KRISP training the next generation of scientists and positions available for PhDs and Post-Doctoral fellows at a Flagship program of UKZN. We also highlight publications on TB next generation sequencing and diagnostics, ethics and trans-disciplinary perspectives of HIV research and new phylodynamics models to characterize viral outbreaks.

We invite applications from ambitious Post-Docs (x10) and PhD (x10) students, to undertake research in a Flagship programme of UKZN in Durban and Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. In this Flagship, leading investigators from different disciplines come together to develop cutting-edge research ideas on precision medicine, precision public health and translational science.

We invite applications from ambitious Post-Docs and PhD students, to undertake research in a Flagship programme of the UKZN in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. This project aims to establish Zebrafish Models for Human Disease and Toxicology, including the development of genetic models for non-communicable diseases (NCD) such as Type 2 Diabetes and for pollutants and contaminants of emerging concern (CEC).

We invite applications from ambitious post doctoral scientists, to undertake research in a Flagship programme of the UKZN and the MRC in Durban, South Africa. This Fellowship aims to generate large geographically indexed HIV, TB and cancer datasets in South Africa. The fellow will apply advanced geospatial analysis techniques and molecular epidemiology and geographical analysis techniques to identify “hotspots” in space-time and describe the characteristics of HIV, TB and HPV transmission networks and its impact on the development of cancer.

We invite applications from ambitious post doctoral scientists, to undertake research in a Flagship programme of the UKZN and the MRC in Durban, South Africa. This project aims to identify factors associated with the acquisition and progression of HIV and the development of HIV drug resistance. The postdoctoral fellow will use human and viral genetic data combined with high quality clinical and epidemiological data to characterize genetic and epigenetic factors that are associated with health outcomes.

We invite applications from ambitious post students, to undertake a PhD in a Flagship programme of the UKZN and the MRC in Durban, South Africa. This project exemplifies how analysis of genomic, clinical, social and epidemiological data could directly impact human health in Africa. PhD fellows will receive outstanding training and be mentored by leading scientists, who commonly publish in some of of the top biomedical journals

KRISP & Thermo Seminar and Lab Tour qPCR Solutions for Infectious Disease Seminar, 11 December 2018 (9:30 - 11:30), K-RITH building, Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine, UKZN, Durban, South Africa. All welcome!

KRISP Talks by Dr Sikhulile Moyo & Dr Catherine Koofhethile, Harvard School of Public Health & Botswana Harvard Partnership (BHP), 10 December 2018 (11:00 - 12:00), K-RITH building, Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine, UKZN, Durban, South Africa. All welcome!

This month, we focused our newsletter on KRISP learning about new technologies and preparing the next generation of scientists. This month, we also have many publications on African Health, including on HIV drug resistance, antimicrobial activity, pre-eclampsia and smoking and depression.

Durban SPARK Innovation Breakfast by Barlow Manilal, CEO TIA, Wednesday, 7 November 2018 (7:30am - 8:30), KRISP, K-RITH building, Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine, UKZN, Durban, South Africa. All welcome!

KRISP Faculty teach Health Measurement Descriptive course at School of Nursing and Public Health. The aim of the course is to provide learners with skills to collect, analyse and use health information. In addition, this course provide students with an understanding of the basic principles and methods of descriptive epidemiology, descriptive biostatistics and demography.

UKZN's KwaZulu-Natal Research Innovations and Sequencing Platform (KRISP) in collaboration with Thermo Fisher Scientific held a one-day Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) training session for Grade 11 pupils and students on basic Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)

VULINDLELA, South Africa—Sweat streams from the young men's faces as they pursue a soccer ball across a sun-baked pitch of red dust.

KRISP Talks by Prof. Caroline Tiemessen, Models for the study of HIV remission: elite and post-treatment controllers, UKZN, Tuesday, 9 October 2018 (11:00am - 12:00), K-RITH building, Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine, UKZN, Durban, South Africa. All welcome!

Science Technology Engineering and Maths (STEM) training II on quantitative PCR (qPCR). Thermo-KRISP Lab, Nelson Mandela School of Medicine, UKZN, Durban, South Africa, 4 October 2018. Training is open to post-graduate students and for technical staff of commercial and academic laboratories.

SPARK Innovation Breakfast by Patrick Schofield, Uprise.Africa, Disruptive Financial Instruments, Entrepreneurship & Social Enterprise, Wednesday, 3 October 2018 (7:30am - 8:30), K-RITH building, Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine, UKZN, Durban, South Africa. All welcome!

Science Technology Engineering and Maths (STEM) training on Sample to PCR. Thermo-KRISP Lab, Nelson Mandela School of Medicine, UKZN, Durban, South Africa, 2 October 2018. Training is open to High-school and University Students and scholarships available to previously disadvantaged South African students.

A critical function of KRISP is to make cutting edge genomics, precision medicine and bioinformatics technology accessible to academic, industrial and commercial users. KRISP uses a hybrid model that includes a research team and a commercial laboratory.

KRISP at UKZN partner with Thermo Fisher Scientific on a educational program in Africa. As part of this program we run many training workshops on STEM subjects, ranging from PCR, qPCR, DNA sequencing and CRISPR techniques. We have also produced a short video that shows the state-of-art training facilities in Durban, South Africa

At KRISP, we recognize the importance of strengthening the health system if we are to achieve the goals of ending the HIV and TB epidemics. We have a particular passion for training frontline health care workers. Through our partnership with the CAPRISA Advanced Clinical Care Programme in the last four years, we have contributed to training of over 2000 health care workers in KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa.

KRISP in conjunction with the University Capacity Development Fund (UCDP) are conducting a two-day data carpentry training on the 27th and 28th of September, 2018 in Durban. In this workshop 35 researchers will be equipped with fine skills to perform data organization and analysis.

Bioinformatics embodies a set of critical skills necessary to derive insights from biological datasets in a cost effective and lab free manner. Such skills are not readily accessible in the African context. To address this challenge, KRISP as part of the H3Africa initiative is hosting a class for the introduction to bioinformatics course (IBT).

KRISP Talks by Erick Nsikayezwe Sithole, Governance, Strategy and Innovation , UKZN, Wednesday, 19 September 2018 (11:00am - 12:00), K-RITH building, Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine, UKZN, Durban, South Africa. All welcome!

Thermo Fisher Scientific in partnership with the KwaZulu Natal Research Innovation and Sequencing Platform (KRISP) at University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) in South Africa has developed an educational programme on PCR which has been offered to high school and tertiary students.

Durban SPARK Innovation Breakfast presentation by Fernando Albericio, KRISP Research Scientist, UKZN Professor, Wednesday, 5 September 2018 (7:30am - 8:30), K-RITH building, Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine, UKZN, Durban, South Africa. All welcome!

KRISP showcase its bio innovations at the BIOAFRICA Convention held on 27 - 29 August 2018 at Durban ICC. Under the theme, Africa - Open for business - Together building the Bio-Economy. KRISP had an exhibition booth under the large TIA pavilion that displayed precision medicine technologies, bioinformatics services as well as a range of genomics services and capacity development program.

A pioneering research collaboration into yellow fever virus (YFV) has shed new light on the exceptional recent outbreak in Brazil and how the virus spreads. The findings have implications for monitoring viral transmission and could potentially contribute to a strategy for eliminating YFV worldwide

Science paper in 2018 that uses genomic sequencing of a recent yellow fever outbreak in Brazil has traced it back to its source.

The South African Government has identified 100 scarce skills nationally in the workplace and KRISP has taken this opportunity to empower the youth and contribute towards education by taking the 100 Scarce Skills Campaign Indaba in Durban - 31 July to 2 August 2018.