The Department of Medical Immunology in association with the Institute for Cellular and Molecular Medicine, including the SAMRC Unit for Stem Cell Research, and the Centre for Neuro-Endocrinology are largely research driven, staffed by researchers of national and international standing, who not only collaborate closely, but also oversee training in various aspects of biomedicine at the undergraduate, postgraduate and postdoctoral levels. Current research activities are focused on: i) the immunopathogenesis and therapy of infectious, allergic and autoimmune diseases; ii) transplantation immunology;  iii) cell-based therapies (including stem cells); iv) the human genome (including pharmacogenetics and inherited disorders); v) neuroendocrinology of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis and development of novel therapeutics for hormone dependent diseases; vi) rescue of function of inactivating mutations in human GPCRs; and vii) research on hormone-dependent cancers viii) cell-based therapies (including stem cells); ix) the human genome (including pharmacogenetics and inherited disorders).

In addition to research and teaching/training, the Department of Medical Immunology in partnership with the National Health Laboratory Service of South Africa also provides a range of laboratory diagnostic services primarily, but not limited to, the major provincial hospitals, as well as urban and rural health clinics in the Tshwane region. These services, which are also aligned with the training of medical technicians and medical technologists, include the serodiagnosis of infectious, allergic and autoimmune diseases, tissue typing for organ transplantation, laboratory diagnosis of primary and secondary immunodeficiency disorders, and immunophenotyping of leukaemias/lymphomas in partnership with the Department of Haematology.