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
A One Health approach to vaccine development has many strengths, including for health and food security on the continent. But this country needs to boost its capacity now, write Professor Ed Rybicki and Professor Anna-Lise Williamson from the University of Cape Town (UCT) and Baptiste Dungu, the chief executive of Onderstepoort Biological Products.
In a paper recently published in the Journal of Bacteriology, researchers at the Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine (IDM) at the University of Cape Town’s Faculty of Health Sciences show that Mycobacterium smegmatis, a soil-dwelling model for Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tb), produces its own cobalamin, a form of vitamin B12 which is required in a number of central metabolic pathways. The paper also describes the conditions under which this bacterium efficiently takes up the vitamer from growth media.
On the 24th of March the Africa Health Research Institute (AHRI), an independent, transdisciplinary scientific research institute based in KwaZulu-Natal and the Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine (IDM), an international centre of excellence where world-class scientists collaborate to tackle diseases of major importance in Africa, hosted a joint, virtual World Tuberculosis (TB) Day mini-symposium in recognition of the day. The IDM is based at the University of Cape Town’s Faculty of Health Sciences.
Tuberculosis (TB) is the top infectious disease killer in the world, with one in four people estimated to be infected by TB bacteria. As TB Awareness Month is commemorated globally in March, researchers at the University of Cape Town’s (UCT) Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine (IDM) have published a paper in Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, a leading journal of the American Society for Microbiology.
