Professor Armanda Bastos’ inauguration late last year as a member of the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf) is not only a great honour but also provides an opportunity to add value on a wider national and international scale, she said. Prof Bastos, who is Professor of One Health in the Faculty of Veterinary Science’s Department of Veterinary Tropical Diseases (DVTD), was one of thirty-eight of the country’s leading scholars and scientists who were inaugurated as official members of ASSAf towards the end of 2023. This was after an annual awards ceremony that took place on 9 November 2023, bringing the official number of members to 689.

A core function of ASSAf as the official science academy of South Africa is to honour the country’s most outstanding scholars by electing them to membership of the Academy. They are drawn from the full spectrum of disciplines in science.

New members are elected each year by the full existing membership. Membership of the Academy is a great honour and is in recognition of scholarly achievement. Members are the core asset of the Academy and give of their time and expertise voluntarily in service of society.

Prof Bastos, who became full professor in 2013 has been working at the University of Pretoria since 2000, first as lecturer and senior lecturer and later also as associate professor in the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences (NAS). Between 2016 and 2017 she held the position of Deputy Director and Acting Director of the University of Pretoria’s Mammal Research Institute after which she was appointed as head of the Department of Zoology and Entomology in the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences until 2022.

 “Sharing knowledge across disciplines will always benefit science and, ultimately, it will also benefit the country as a whole,” she said, commenting on the exceptional achievement.

With an emphasis on evidence-based studies on topics of national importance, ASSAf members are given opportunities to apply their knowledge and skills to influence national and even global policy and practice.

Her research focuses on generating baseline data for a range of infectious diseases of wildlife that are of animal and public health concern. Due to the high levels of pathogen and host diversity in southern Africa there is a strong emphasis on development of molecular detection methods that encompass this regional variation. By combining detection with genetic characterisation, data are generated that provide accurate estimates of pathogen prevalence, diversity and distribution, permitting formulation of conservation-cognisant disease control strategies.

Current projects incorporate molecular epidemiological studies of a range of infectious agents (viral, bacterial and fungal) at the wildlife-livestock-human interfaces. By using phylogenetic approaches, it is possible to determine with greater accuracy, the origin and spread of infectious disease agents. The molecular data generated in the course of these studies aid in refining molecular diagnostic approaches that underpin cost-effective disease monitoring and surveillance initiatives.