Cape Heart Institute Monthly Seminar

Date: Friday, 16^th April 2021

Location: Chris Barnard Bldg., 5th Fl. Board Room and Zoom

Zoom details: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85642980081?pwd=b3V0NnZiUU82NGtBQzMvR1dyNFlvdz09

                       Meeting ID: 856 4298 0081

                       Passcode: 617886

Time: 12:00 – 13:00

Host: Prof Sandrine Lecour

Speaker: A/Prof. Rabia Johnson

Title: “ SAMRC RESPONSE TO COVID-19: The added value of wastewater surveillance for SARS CoV-2”

 

Rabia Johnson is a National Research Foundation (NRF) C2 rated scientist that received her PhD at Stellenbosch University (SU) in December 2007.  Her focus was on understanding the mechanism of drug-resistant tuberculosis. During her time at SU, she was involved in the development of an algorithm to rapidly detect isoniazid, rifampicin and ethambutol drug resistance in tuberculosis patients. She identified a transmissible drug-resistant strain that caused large drug-resistant outbreaks in the Western Cape, South Africa.

In January 2014 she joined the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) and she is currently working as a Senior Specialist Scientist, holding the position as Deputy Director of the  Biomedical Research and Innovation Platform(BRIP)/SAMRC. She is also an Associated Professor in the Department of Medical Physiology at Stellenbosch University and has been appointed (for 5 years) as an  NRF Specialist Committee member for the Biochemistry, Molecular & Cell biology Rating Panel.

Her main research niche is on understanding the disease pathophysiology of cardiovascular disease and hypertension. In her current focus area, she has published 58 articles (Scopus h-index of 20) and filed one patent application. She has built both local and international collaborations. Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, she has played an active role in setting up and managing the SAMRC/BRIP’s SARS-Co-V2 wastewater surveillance program.