The IDM has curated a go-to range of reliable information to guide and assist staff and students during this time of crisis. We are continuously updating the various COVID-19 resources listed on our webpage below.
The IDM - a cross-faculty, multidisciplinary postgraduate health research institute
Based on the UCT Faculty of Health Sciences campus in a 7,100 sqm state-of-the-art facility, we operate in the fields of infectious diseases and molecular medicine.
Clinical research relevant to the needs of Africa's people
The IDM influences health policy and practice by translating our scientific discoveries and applying them in various communities; community relationships and trust are critical.
Capacity building in the IDM
The largest research entity at UCT, the IDM is a national leader in research and health sciences human capital development.
University accredited research institute - Tackling diseases of importance in Africa - Developing people - Impacting health policy and practice
Transmission, infection, disease is the successive cycle driven by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tb) – the bacterium that causes tuberculosis (TB). However, the mechanisms behind the successful transmission of the bacterium have been poorly researched, mainly due to an inability to capture and identify live M. tb in the exhaled breath of TB patients. This is changing – guided by collaborative efforts from researchers at the University of Cape Town’s (UCT) Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS) and the Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine (IDM).
When Professor Ambroise Wonkam, director of Genetic Medicine of African Populations (GeneMAP) in the University of Cape Town’s (UCT) Division of Human Genetics, first started formulating the idea of sequencing the genomes of three million Africans to build a more representative human reference genome, he anticipated a measure of resistance.
South Africa’s vaccination drive began on Wednesday, 17 February 2021, at the Khayelitsha Hospital, with President Cyril Ramaphosa, Minister of Health Dr Zweli Mkhize and various frontline healthcare workers among the first to receive the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) vaccine. Professor Linda-Gail Bekker and Professor Graeme Meintjes of the University of Cape Town’s Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine (IDM) in the Faculty of Health Sciences were present for the auspicious occasion.
Health officials in South Africa are in a race against time to roll out Phase 1 of government’s COVID-19 vaccination plan in a bid to curtail further devastation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The University of Cape Town’s (UCT) Professor Ed Rybicki unpacks the need-to-knows about COVID-19 vaccination.
