National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD)

Dr. von Gottberg is the Principal Pathologist and Laboratory Lead at CRDM. She is also an Associate Professor in the School of Pathology, at University of the Witwatersrand Faculty of Health Sciences. She was founding director of the Group for Enteric, Respiratory and Meningeal Disease Surveillance in South Africa (GERMS-SA) and established enhanced national invasive bacterial disease surveillance. This surveillance includes all age groups, is well-established with many years of data, and includes a strong phenotypic and genotypic characterization of the disease-causing strains, making it possible to document the epidemiology of the diseases with an in-depth understanding of both host and pathogen characteristics. New work within the Centre includes notifiable conditions such as legionella, pertussis and diphtheria – diseases of public health importance within South Africa.

Dr. von Gottberg’s team is the national reference laboratory for bacterial respiratory pathogens in South

Africa and the WHO Regional Office for Africa Regional Reference Laboratory for vaccine-preventable invasive bacterial diseases for the southern and eastern Africa region. Under her leadership, NICD established a WHO-funded African continent-wide proficiency testing program for the national pediatric bacterial meningitis network and public health laboratories.

Dr. Harrison and Dr. von Gottberg are responsible for the overall management of SAPPHGenE. In addition to providing program leadership, they will mentor a substantial number of trainees.

Dr. du Plessis is a Principal Medical Scientist at CRDM and a Lecturer in the Wits Faculty of Health Sciences. She leads a team of eight laboratory medical scientists, and has managed the implementation of molecular tests that identify and serotype/group respiratory bacterial pathogens for diagnosis and surveillance. She has led various research projects involving genomic characterization of N. meningitidis, C. diphtheriae, and S. pneumoniae. She teaches medical scientists doing diagnostic work, surveillance, and research.

Dr. du Plessis will provide training in genomic epidemiology of invasive bacterial pathogens.

Dr. Govender is the Head of CHARM and an Associate Professor of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases at Wits. Dr. Govender has a special interest in mycoses and directs the Mycology Reference Laboratory at NICD. His work is focused on public health surveillance and outbreak response for fungal diseases that are of importance in South Africa. In this position, he works closely with the Department of Health to generate evidence to guide government policy. His particular area of expertise is in medical mycology and in the field of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) wherein his work has focused largely on the neglected area of antifungal resistance.

Dr. Govender is also a member of the Ministerial Advisory Committee on AMR and President of the Federation of Infectious Disease Societies of Southern Africa (FIDSSA.) He led implementation and evaluation of a national cryptococcal disease screen-and-treat intervention in South Africa in partnership with the Department of Health, of which he was co-chair of the South African cryptococcal disease guidelines panel and a member of the WHO cryptococcal disease and advanced HIV disease guidelines panel.

He will provide mentoring and training in the areas of fungal infection, antimicrobial resistance, and healthcare-associated infections.