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www.saimmunology.org.za
April 2015
Update from the Executive Committee:
Hi all enthusiastic colleagues…
The world of South African immunology is
looking ever more exciting, with networking
happening through the South African
Immunology Society, the Allergy Society of
South Africa, the expert Committee for
Immunology of the National Health
Laboratory Service and academic institutions.
The SAIS hopes to be a bridge and
communication tool to allow all those with an
interest in immunology to grow and build the
field in South Africa. With South Africa’s world
class academic standing together with our
burden of infectious and non-communicable
diseases, South Africa is well positioned to
emerge as a global leader in immunology
research, training, diagnostics and clinical
practice.
In our newsletter you will find some links to
congresses and courses of interest to those
working in immunology related fields, as well
as funding opportunities and current events.
January 2015
Please let us hear from you how to assist
you in your niche area. The fields of
immunology are numerous in both the
basic and clinical sciences, spanning
infectious diseases, allergology,
vaccinology, autoimmunity, dermatology,
paediatrics, medicine, obstetrics,
neurology, transplantation and more.
This newsletter is the voice of your society
– please contribute to it, distribute it and
enjoy it.
Kind Regards
Dr Melinda Suchard
Vice president, SAIS
We will also start profiling the work done by
our members, so that we facilitate networking
and knowledge exchange.
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April 2015
Conferences and Courses of interest:
EMBO Global Exchange Lecture Course
on Frontiers in innate Immunity and drug
discovery, Johannesburg 6 - 10 July 2015
Lectures will deal with advances in
vertebrate and invertebrate immunity,
drug discovery and development.
http://events.embo.org/15-innateimmunity/
24th annual Allergy Society of South Africa
(ALLSA) congress incorporating Primary
Immune Deficiency School, Port Elizabeth,
3-6 September 2015 ,
http://www.allsa2015.co.za/index.php/pro
gramme
11th Annual African Vaccinology Course,
Cape Town, 9-13 November 2015
www.vacfa.uct.ac.za
African Society for Immune Deficiency
(ASID) conference, Algiers, 29-31 May
2015 asidcongress2015@gmail.com
South African Transplantation Society
Limpopo, 9-11 October 2015
www.sats.org.za)
European Society for Clinical Cell Analysis
(ESCCA), Sicily, 30 September-3rd October
www.escca.eu
January 2015
Funding opportunities:
Travel grants for PhD students and
post-docs to attend an
international conference of choice available from Axol Bioscience
(deadline 30 June):
http://www.axolbio.com/page/travelgrants
Claude Leon post-doc funding
application deadline 31 May 2015
http://www.leonfoundation.co.za/
National Research Foundation –
2015 call schedule available at
www.nrf.ac.za/division/funding/2015
-call-schedule
Call for case studies
Submit interesting allergy/
immunology case studies to the
journal Current Allergy & Clinical
Immunology. Maximum word length
2000. Contact Dr Claudia Gray
claudiagray.paediatrics@gmail.com
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April 2015
Keeping up to date …
Vaccinology
In support of the aim to interrupt all circulating
wild polio virus globally by end of 2015,
authorities in Peshawar, Pakistan, detained 471
people and charged them with "endangering
public security". They will only be freed once they
have pledged in writing to vaccinate their
children. The Taliban prohibit vaccinations and
have attacked health workers. The Pakistani
government has declared "war" on polio. "We
have decided to deal with the refusal cases with
iron hands. Anyone who refuses will be sent to
jail," said Riaz Khan Mehsud, deputy
commissioner of Peshawar.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-31703835
Metabolic
disease
January
2015
Type 2 diabetes mellitus is endemic in the South
African population. This paper examines the link
between a population of natural killer cells
resident in the visceral adipose tissue and the
development of insulin resistance in mice.
Stressed adipocytes activated natural killer cells
to produce interferon gamma which drives
macrophages into a pro-inflammatory (M1)
state. Depletion of this natural killer cell
population improved glucose tolerance even in
mice with no natural B or T lymphocytes.
Felix Wensween et al, Nature Immunology April 2015
(Volume 16 (4))
Immune modulation
The role of environmental factors in modulating
immune responses in early life
Understanding the mechanisms which underly
immune programming in early life provides
previously unknown opportunities for disease
prevention but also for prolonged health.
Selective environmental pressures have been
shaping the evolution of our immune systems,
however in recent years the change in lifestyles
and environments has been rapid. This can
result in undesirable outcomes for the immune
system Mac Gillivray D and Kollmann TR. Frontiers in
Immunology, September 2014/Vol 5/Article 434/1-12
Immunology Positions:
Post-doctoral position
at Molecular and Cell
Biology, University of
Cape Town. Send CV,
academic record,
contact details of 3
referees to
janet.hapgood@uct.ac.
za by 30 April 2015
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April 2015
World Immunization Week 24-30 April
World Immunization Week, from the 24th- 30th
April 2015, will signal a renewed global,
regional, and national effort to accelerate
action to increase awareness and demand for
immunization by communities, and improve
vaccination delivery services. African
Vaccination Week will be running under the
theme: ‘Vaccination – A Gift of Life’. This
provides an opportunity for countries to
strengthen immunization services and systems
through advocacy, education and
communication tools and activities. Information
on an educational symposium to be hosted at
the NICD on 30 April is available at
www.nicd.ac.za
January 2015
Profiling our members’ work….
Each issue we will highlight a different
immunology group:
Clive Gray’s research lab , IDM at the
University of Cape Town
World Allergy Week held 13-19 April
The World Allergy Association raised awareness
on the human and economic burden of allergies
during educational activities during this week.
For more information visit
http://www.worldallergy.org/worldallergyweek/
about.php
Amongst a number of research projects, our
focus is to understand the balance between
immune activation and immune
tolerance/regulation and how an imbalance
towards inflammation can predispose people
to risks of becoming HIV infected.
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My lab has two areas of interest: a) maternalfoetal HIV exposure and b) immune risk in the
foreskin/mechanisms of medical male
circumcision.
With funding from the Canadian Institutes of
Health Research (CIHR), we are recruiting 500
mother-infant pairs in Khayelitsha, Cape Town
and in Jos, Nigeria. One of the focal points of
the study is to examine T cell vaccine
immunogenicity of BCG, Rotavirus, Tetanus
and Pertussis in HIV exposed uninfected
(HEU) and HIV unexposed controls. The
hypothesis being explored is that HIV
exposure in the newborn infant alters the
ability to respond to vaccine immunogens and
is a proxy marker of impaired immunity.
Another major focus of my lab is the
examination of Immune risk of HIV acquisition
in the foreskin. We are seeking mechanisms
that account for how asymptomatic sexually
transmitted infections (STI) result in immune
activation in the foreskin. One hundred and
fifty adolescent boys (age range 14-24 years)
have been recruited from Edendale Hospital,
outside Pietmartizburg, and from Chris Hani
Baragwaneth Hospital, Soweto. Foreskin
tissue is being examined using confocal and
epifluoresence microscopy for numbers of
Langerhans’ Cells, CD4+ T cells and the
number of proliferating Ki67+ cells in relation
to keratin thickness (using Filaggrin).
April 2015
enhanced risk of HIV infection in
uncircumcised males. This is a highly
collaborative study with fellow investigators
at UCT (Jo-Ann Passmore and Heather
2015
Jaspan);January
the Karolinska
Institute, Sweden
(Francesca Chiodi); Northwestern University,
Chicago (Thomas Hope).
To submit your news to the next
issue, please contact our
newsletter editor Melinda
Suchard melindas@nicd.ac.za
To join or renew your
membership of the South
African Immunology Society,
please see website
www.saimmunology.org.za or
contact
Jolandi Ackerman
jolandi@onscreenav.co.za
Tel 021 486 9222
Examining gene expression levels of 86
different chemokines and receptors, shows
specific chemokines associated with migration
of CD4+ T cells to the inner foreskin are one of
the mechanisms at play in creating
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