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19 July 2018 Photo Supplied
AEVGI advances Next-Generation Sequencing in Africa
Prof George Armah, Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, Ghana; Prof Carl Kirkwood, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, USA; Cornelius Hagenmeier, Director: Internationalisation, UFS; Prof Gert van Zyl, Dean: Health Sciences; Dr Martin Nyaga, Senior Lecturer in the NGS Unit; Prof Joyce Tsoka-Gwegweni, Vice-Dean: Health Sciences; Dr Glen Taylor, Senior Director: Research and Development; Prof Jeffrey Mphahlele, Vice-President, South African Medical Research Council.

The inaugural edition of the University of the Free State (UFS) Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) Data and Bioinformatics Workshop, hosted by the UFS-NGS Unit in the UFS Faculty of Health Sciences, marked a new beginning for the advancement of NGS in Africa under the auspices of the African Enteric Viruses Genome Initiative (AEVGI), which was recently funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

The AEVGI will generate rotavirus genomes at the UFS-NGS Unit to investigate the long-term effects of the introduction of the monovalent RV1 vaccine in three African countries – Ghana, Malawi, and South Africa.

The workshop attracted over 90 participants from 15 national and international institutions, with organisations from seven different countries as well as company representatives attending the event. The workshop kicked off with a courtesy call to the Rector and Vice-Chancellor, Prof Francis Petersen, followed by a stakeholder meeting with the executive management of the UFS.

The funding was secured through an award to the principal investigator, Dr Martin Nyaga, and sub-awards to co-investigators, Dr Khuzwayo Jere, Dr Francis Dennis, and Dr Valentine Ndze. According to attendee evaluations of the workshop, the remarkable performance of the workshop instructors was outstanding. Through practical sessions, participants were equipped with knowledge on how to apply several tools of genetic data analysis, using the rotavirus genome as a model to construct and interpret different genomic datasets.

A total of 65 students attended the hands-on workshop, the majority of which were from South African higher-education institutions. The organisers are grateful to the sponsors, particularly to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the University of the Free State, for making the workshop a success. Whitehead Scientific and the South African Medical Research Council also played a major role in the success of the workshop. The local organising committee consisted of Dr Martin Nyaga (host, convener and chair), Dr Saheed Sabiu (secretary), and Mr Stephanus Riekert (principal ICT support).

News Archive

First ever international conference on Student Affairs in Africa
2011-05-11

We hosted the 2011 African Student Affairs Conference on our Main Campus in Bloemfontein from 17 – 19 May 2011.

This was the first year that the conference was hosted on African soil as it was presented in the United Kingdom in 2009/2010. The UFS was selected to join hands with the University of the Western Cape and welcomed students from across the continent.
 
The purpose of the conference was to share and exchange strategies, ideas and resources, and to discuss issues related to the work of student affairs professionals. The conference promoted an exchange of best practice and assisted attendees in identifying successful programmes.
 
“We are immensely privileged to be selected to host the first ever international conference on student affairs in Africa and cannot wait to welcome the rest of Africa to our university,” said Mr Rudi Buys, Dean of Student Affairs at our university.
 
The conference is in response to the need to develop education in Africa and for African institutions to compete with the globalising world. To this end, more emphasis should be laid on student affairs, as this unit complements the academic curriculum with programmes geared towards the holistic formation of students.
 
“Twenty delegates from the UFS will attended the conference and presented papers. In this way we will not only actively participate, but also be a leader in discussions about student affairs on the continent,” said Mr Buys.
 


Media Release
11 May 2011
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Director: Strategic Communication
Tel: 051 401 2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: news@ufs.ac.za

 

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