University of the Free State UFS Department of Virology

University of the Free State UFS Department of Virology – Check below:

The establishment of a Division of Virology under the joint auspices of the UFS and the National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS) reflects the continued growth within Virology.

Head: Dr Dominique Goedhals

Head of Research: Prof Felicity Burt

Research primarily focuses on host immune responses to arboviral infections specifically characterising humoral and cellular immune responses in patients with infections such as Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF) virus and Sindbis virus; epitope discovery for development of diagnostic tools; development of molecular and serological assays for surveillance purposes; virus discovery; and development of vaccines. Raising awareness of these viruses, defining associated diseases and developing tools for surveillance programmes will contribute to understanding these pathogens and the public health implications.

The focus of the research group is also to ascertain the genotypes of HPV causing these diseases, identification of novel biomarkers for early detection and complete genome sequencing for molecular characterisation of HPV isolates.