NEWS SPOTLIGHT

KRISP NEWS

Building Africa’s Biotech Future

From site visits to start-up: how one African STARS fellow turned lessons in leadership and communication into two grants that will put African-made enzymes and gene tools on the map.

Teaching Africa to Compete Globally

On March 4 this year, Grace Bosco watched her own face appear on the Nasdaq Tower in Times Square – a name and a company logo, up in lights, next to just nine others chosen from thousands of entrepreneurs worldwide.

TB Genomics Spotlight

SU at Europe’s leading mycobacteriology conference.

AI, Innovation and the Future of Women’s Health

A peek inside the Gates Grand Challenges Annual Meeting 2026, where AI, maternal health, and climate science took centre stage.

Rewriting Africa’s Disease History

New review explores how ancient DNA preserved in archaeological remains could unlock new insights into the origins, evolution, and spread of infectious diseases, helping to inform future surveillance and epidemic preparedness across Africa.

Iron Deficiency Screening at Marconi Beam Primary School

On 18 July, SmartPath partnered with the Impilo Project's Mandela Day Health Day at Marconi Beam Primary School in the Joe Slovo community. SmartPath, an integrated care programme developed through the African STARS Fellowship at CERI, focused the day on awareness, screening, and follow-up for iron deficiency anaemia among women of reproductive age, using point-of-care haemoglobin and ferritin testing and referral for oral iron.

Where Data Meets Purpose

Stellenbosch University's Innovation and Data Science Industry Dinner in Sandton brought together researchers, alumni and industry leaders to discuss how stronger partnerships can accelerate AI, data science and health innovation. Featuring Prof Tulio de Oliveira and Prof Kanshukan Rajaratnam, the event highlighted the importance of collaboration, responsible innovation and building South Africa's capacity to tackle complex challenges through data-driven research.

PUBLICATIONS SPOTLIGHT

KRISP SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS

Addressing pandemic-wide systematic errors in the SARS-CoV-2 phylogeny.
Hunt M, Hinrichs A, Anderson D, Karim L, Dearlove B, Knaggs J, Constantinides B, Fowler P, Rodger G, Street T, Lumley S, Webster H, Sanderson T, Ruis C, Kotzen B, de Maio N, Amenga-Etego L, Amuzu D, Avaro M, Awandare G, Ayivor-Djanie R, Barkham T, Bashton M, Batty E, Bediako Y, De Belder D, Benedetti E, Bergthaler A, Boers S, Campos J, Carr R, Chen Y, Cuba F, Dattero M, Dejnirattisai W, Dilthey A, Duedu K, Endler L, Engelmann I, Francisco N, Fuchs J, Gnimpieba E, Groc S, Gyamfi J, Heemskerk D, Houwaart T, Hsiao N, Huska M, Hölzer M, Iranzadeh A, Jarva H, Jeewandara C, Jolly B, Joseph R, Kant R, Ki K, Kurkela S, Lappalainen M, Lataretu M, Lemieux J, Liu C, Malavige G, Mashe T, Mongkolsapaya J, Montes B, Mora J, Morang’a C, Mvula B, Nagarajan N, Nelson A, Ngoi J, da Paixão J, Panning M, Poklepovich T, Quashie P, Ranasinghe D, Russo M, San J, Sanderson N, Scaria V, Screaton G, Sessions O, Sironen T, Sisay A, Smith D, Smura T, Supasa P, Suphavilai C, Swann J, Tegally H, Tegomoh B, Vapalahti O, Walker A, Wilkinson R, Williamson C, Zair X, Biere B, Dürrwald R, Mache C, Oh D, Schulze J, Wedde M, Wolff T, Fuchs S, Semmler T, Paraskevopoulou S, Kerber R, Kröger S, Haas W, Bode K, Corman V, Erren M, Finzer P, Grosser R, Haffner M, Hermann B, Kiel C, Krumbholz A, Lorentz T, Meinck K, Nitsche A, Petzold M, Schwanz T, Szabados F, Tewald F, Tiemann C, de Oliveira T, Peto T, Crook D, Corbett-Detig R, Iqbal Z, Nature Methods (2026), 23:653-662.

Tracing the spatial origins and spread of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron lineages in South Africa.
Dor G, Wilkinson E, Martin DP, Moir M, Tshiabuila D, Kekana D, Ntozini B, Joseph R, Iranzadeh A, Nyaga MM, Goedhals D, Maponga T, Maritz J, Laguda-Akingba O, Ramphal Y, MacIntyre C, Chabuka L, Pillay S, Giandhari J, Baxter C, Hsiao NY, Preiser W, Bhiman JN, Davies MA, Venter M, Treurnicht FK, Wolter N, Williamson C, von Gottberg A, Lessells R, Tegally H, de Oliveira T, Nature Communications (2025), 28;16(1):4937. doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-60081-0:.

Genomic Surveillance of Climate-Amplified Cholera Outbreak, Malawi, 2022–2023.
Chabuka L, Choga W, Mavian C, Moir M, Morgenstern C, Tegaly H, Sharma A, Wilkinson E, Naidoo Y, Inward R, Bhatt S, WilliamWint G, Khan K, Bogoch I, Kraemer M, Lourenço J, Baxter C, Tagliamonte M, Salemi M, Lessells R, Mitambo C, Chitatanga R, Bitilinyu-Bango J, Chiwaula M, Chavula Y, Bukhu M, Manda H, Chitenje M, Malolo I, Mwanyongo A, Mvula B, Nyenje M, de Oliveira T, Kagoli M, Emerging Infectious Diseases (2025), 31(6):. doi: 10.3201/eid3106.240930.:.

Importance of outbreak response research in bridging knowledge gaps on emerging infectious diseases.
Breiman R, Osoro E, Reithinger R, Wang D, Diamond M, Van Voorhis W, Wasserheit J, Rabinowitz P, Mboup S, Hemingway-Foday J, de Oliveira T, Boon A, Schieffelin J, Sempowski G, Moody M, Vasilakis N, Hanley K, Nasimiyu C, Situma S, Ngere I, Kyobe Bosa H, Nyakarahuka L, Bakamutumaho B, Woodson S, Njenga M, BMJ Global Health (2025), 10(6):e018297. doi: 10.1136/bmjgh-2024-018297.:.

Artificial intelligence for modelling infectious disease epidemics.
Kraemer M, Tsui J, Chang S, Lytras S, Khurana M, Vanderslott S, Bajaj S, Scheidwasser N, Curran-Sebastian J, Semenova E, Zhang M, Unwin H, Watson O, Mills C, Dasgupta A, Ferretti L, Scarpino S, Koua E, Morgan O, Tegally H, Paquet U, Moutsianas L, Fraser C, Ferguson N, Topol E, Duchêne D, Stadler T, Kingori P, Parker M, Dominici F, Shadbolt N, Suchard M, Ratmann O, Flaxman S, Holmes E, Gomez-Rodriguez M, Schölkopf B, Donnelly C, Pybus O, Cauchemez S, Bhatt S, Nature (2025), :.

Spatiotemporal disease suitability prediction for Oropouche virus and the role of vectors across the Americas.
Poongavanan J, Dunaiski M, D’or G, Kraemer M, Giovanetti M, Lim A, Brady O, Baxter C, Fonseca V, Alcantara L, de Oliveira T, Tegally H, medRxiv (2025), doi: 10.1101/2025.02.28.25323068.:.

Characterization of SARS-CoV-2 intrahost genetic evolution in vaccinated and non-vaccinated patients from the Kenyan population.
Lugano D, Mwangi K, Mware B, Kibet G, Osiany S, Kiritu E, Dobi P, Muli C, Njeru R, de Oliveira T, Njenga M, Routh A, Oyola S, medRxiv (2025), doi: 10.1101/2025.03.03.25323296.:.

KRISP VIDEOS

COVID-19 | News sub-variant being monitored closely
By: Tulio De Oliveira and CERI and KRISP teams

KRISP BIOINFORMATICS TOOLS