Prof. Armanda Bastos

Professor

BSc (Genetics & Zoology), BSc (Hons) Genetics, MSc (Genetics), PhD (Molecular Virology)

Office
Room 2-41
Paraclinical Sciences Building

Telephone
+27 12 529 8349

Email
[email protected]

ORCID
0000-0002-9223-4204

Biography

Armanda Bastos is a Professor in the Department of Veterinary Tropical Diseases and manages the centre's One Health platform at the Hans Hoheisen Wildlife Research Station (HHWRS) in the Kruger National Park. She coordinates the MSc in Global One Health, a joint offering of the University of Pretoria and the Institute for Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium. In keeping with the interdisciplinarity required for effective One Health research, she remains an active academic in the Department of Zoology and Entomology. This dual faculty role permits the complementary merging of two key research focus areas; infectious disease epidemiology and wildlife conservation.

A molecular biologist by training, Armanda’s research encompasses molecular epidemiology, molecular diagnostics and the molecular taxonomy and evolution of a broad range of viral, bacterial, zoonotic and vector-borne disease agents. Her PhD degree entitled Molecular epidemiology and diagnosis of SAT-type foot-and-mouth disease viruses in southern Africa was completed whilst she was employed as a Senior/Veterinary Researcher (1994-2000) at the flagship ARC-Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute (ARC-OVI) BSL3 / Transboundary Animal Diseases (TAD) laboratory. In July 2000 she joined the University of Pretoria as a lecturer in the Department of Zoology and Entomology, was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2002, Associate Professor in 2007, and full Professor 2013. She served as Deputy Director and Acting Director of the Mammal Research Institute for 18 months (2016-2017) and as Head of the Department of Zoology and Entomology from 2018-2022. 

To date, Armanda has published 128 scientific papers and 7 book chapters, primarily on transboundary animal diseases and vector-borne diseases, molecular assay development, genomics and conservation genetics. She has supervised/co-supervised the postgraduate research projects of 22 doctoral, 38 Masters (32 research & 6 coursework) and 22 BSc Hons level students to completion and serves on the editorial board of CABI One Health. Previous editorial board appointments include Deputy Editor for PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases and Associate Editor for BMC Genetics and Frontiers in Veterinary Science.

Professional and academic experience

• >33 years' experience as a researcher
• >24 years’ experience in teaching at tertiary level
• >5 years’ experience in senior academic management

Professional memberships

• Member of the Academy of Science of South Africa (MASSAf)
• Fellow of the Royal Society of South Africa (FRSSAf)
• Associate of the Mammal Research Institute (MRI)
• Affiliate of the Centre for Veterinary Wildlife Studies (CVWS)
• Principle Investigator in the M3B2 SARChI Chair
• Member of the Parasitological Society of Southern Africa (PARSA)
• Member of the Southern African Society for Veterinary Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine (SASVEPM)
• Member of the Southern African Wildlife Management Association (SAWMA)
• Member of the Wildlife Diseases Association (WDA)
• Member of the Zoological Society of Southern Africa (ZSSA)

Subjects taught at undergraduate and postgraduate levels

• ZEN 251 Invertebrate Biology
• ZEN 261 African Vertebrates
• ZEN 354 Evolutionary Physiology
• ZEN 362 Evolution and Phylogeny
• ZEN 784 Contemporary Research Methods
• WLS 810 Wildlife Health Advanced

Research interests

• Molecular epidemiology of infectious disease agents (viral, bacterial and fungal)
• Conservation genetics
• Molecular diagnostics
• Vector- and rodent-borne diseases
• Molecular phylogenetics and evolution

Collaboration

• University of California-Davis, USA
• CIRAD, France
• Institute for Tropical Medicine (ITM), Belgium
• ARC-Onderstepoort Veterinary Research Institute, South Africa
• International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe), Kenya
• International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Kenya
• Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI)
• National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), South Africa
• National Veterinary Research Institute, Vom. Plateau State, Nigeria
• Nigerian Institute of Medical Research, Nigeria
• Organisation for Tropical Studies (OTS), South Africa
• Regional Veterinary Office, Agricultural Research Institute, Mozambique
• University of Stellenbosch, South Africa
• University of Pretoria Institute for Sustainable Malaria Control (UP ISMC)

Postgraduate Students

Research output/publications and impact

• 126 publications in accredited journals
• 7 book chapters
• 3 editorials (special issues in Frontiers in Veterinary Science, Animals & Pathogens) 
• Full list in Google Scholar

NRF rating

B2

Awards and recognition

• Exceptional Academic Achiever Award, University of Pretoria (2024)
• MASSAf: Inducted as a Member of the Academy of Science of South Africa (2023)
• FRSSAf: Inducted as a Fellow of the Royal Society of South Africa (2019)
• Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS), Professional Academic Leadership (PAL) programme award (2019)
• National Research Foundation: President’s Award (2005)
• Exceptional Young Researcher Award, University of Pretoria (2004)
• Academic Honorary Colours (2001): seven papers published from PhD; four as first author
• International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) fellowship (1999)
• Federation of European Microbiological Societies (FEMS): Young Scientist Grant (1998)
• Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute (OVI): Director’s Award (1997/8)