SARChI resorts under the National Research Foundation, and Chairs is a South African programme that encourages research and development at universities. The SARChl Chair in Sustainable Malaria Control will enhance UP’s recognised and integrated focus on malaria parasite biology, functional genomics, drug discovery efforts, innovative mosquito control strategies as well as public health and community engagement.

The keynote speaker was Prof Carol Sibley, Professor in Genome Sciences at the University of Washington and Scientific Director of the Worldwide Antimalarial Resistance Network (WWARN).

The holder of the SARChl Chair in Sustainable Malaria Control at UP, Prof Lyn-Marie Birkholtz, is a leader in the discipline of antimalarial target discovery in the University’s Department of Biochemistry. She will use her expert knowledge of the malaria parasite to investigate sustainable mechanisms to control not only the parasite itself, but also its mosquito vector.

The Centre for Sustainable Malaria Control is the only one of its kind due to its unique approach to malaria by addressing all its aspects, including the parasite, the mosquito carrier and the human host, and by using integrated transdisciplinary strategies in doing so. Collaborative teams in different departments, faculties and even institutions form clusters to bring together skills and resources from different sources to address all aspects of the disease. The three-legged clusters do research on health aspects (such as safe methods focusing on the public and the environment), parasite control (from parasite biology to the prevention of transferring the disease-causing parasite) and vector control (anything related to the mosquito as vector and the variety of current and new methods to prevent a mosquito from transmitting the parasite and therefore the disease).

Prof Tiaan de Jager, Director of the Centre for Sustainable Malaria Control, introduced the three research clusters on Malaria Research Day, and presentations covering different disciplines were also given: Prof Leo Braack, on the newly established research initiative in Integrated Vector Management; Prof Riana Bornman (Urology), on health aspects in Limpopo communities; Dr Nico Claassen (School of Health Systems and Public Health, SHSPH) and author Ginny Stone, on the educational book Sibo fights malaria; and PhD students in Biochemistry, Public Health (SHSPH) and Chemical Engineering, on various topics.