The South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) and Stellenbosch University (SU) are pleased to announce the appointment of Associate Professor Mohlopheni Jackson Marakalala as Unit Director of the SU/SAMRC Centre for Tuberculosis Research (CTR), housed within SU’s Department of Biomedical Sciences in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences.
Prof Marakalala, a current Wellcome Trust International Fellow and Faculty member at Africa Health Research Institute and professor at University College London, will take up the post on 1 March 2025. Prof Marakala takes over from Prof Robin Warren, who stepped down in 2024 after serving as CTR Unit Director for 8 years.
The CTR is tasked to continually do state-of-the-art research that works towards expanding the understanding of TB disease and alleviating the scourge of TB, develop effective diagnostic tools to shorten TB diagnosis time, and also train and build the capacity of the next generation of researchers.
Prof Marakalala’s primary research interest is on infectious diseases, particularly immunopathogenesis of Tuberculosis (TB), with an aim of developing host-directed therapies targeting mediators of lung damage. His other interests are in understanding strategies utilized by mycobacteria to survive various arms of the immune system.
“I look forward to working with Prof Marakalala as he grows and develops talent with the unit, to forge new and exciting partnerships which strengthen the SAMRC through the alignment to our strategic goals,” said Prof Liesl Zühlke, SAMRC Vice President: Extramural Research and Internal Portfolio.
Prof Marakalala has a PhD in Chemical Pathology and is an established researcher in the field of infectious disease. During his career, he has also had affiliations with the Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine at UCT and Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health (USA). He was the recipient of numerous research related awards, including the ‘Rising Star’ award at the 2019 Grand Challenges meeting, National Research Foundation Emerging Research Excellence Awards and SAMRC Scientific Merit Award. He has published extensively, including numerous groundbreaking publications in prestigious high-impact journals, and has trained numerous early career scientists.
Said Prof Nico Gey van Pittius, Vice Dean: Research and Internationalisation at SU’s Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (FMHS): “We are excited to welcome Prof Marakalala into our excellent research team. His extensive international experience in infectious diseases, in particular TB, makes him an ideal fit for the FMHS’s world class TB research efforts. Combined with the world-class facilities of SU’s Biomedical Research Institute and the strong, longstanding partnership between SU and the SAMRC, we foresee impactful world-class research from his unit.”