The need for a dedicated unit to tackle fungal disease in Africa
Purpose of the AFRICA CMM Unit
The major burden of serious invasive fungal infection is borne by low and middle income countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, where around 50% of people diagnosed with invasive fungal infections die as a result of the infection.
Based at the University of Cape Town (UCT) and established in 2017, the CMM AFRICA Unit has created a broader partnership in Africa where we can work in collaboration with UCT experts to establish research and training programmes that can target the priority areas in fungal diseases that are relevant to the African continent. The CMM AFRICA Unit, directed by Professor Gordon Brown, is based at UCT’s Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, headed by Professor Valerie Mizrahi, and works in collaboration with experts to establish research programmes that can target the priority areas in fungal diseases that are relevant to the African continent.
Members
Prof J. Claire Hoving
Prof J. Claire Hoving is an Associate Professor at the University of Cape Town and Wellcome Trust Intermediate Fellow in Public Health and Tropical Medicine and Senior Lecturer in the Division of Immunology, whose research aims at understanding host immune responses to HIV-related fungal infections. As an Associate Member of the Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine and a contributing investigator of the Wellcome Centre for Infectious Diseases Research in Africa, her current major focus is understanding the immune response to Pneumocystis jirovecii, which is a common cause of pneumonia and death in patients with HIV/AIDS in Africa and which is estimated to kill over 250 000 worldwide every year.
Prof Rachael Dangarembizi
Prof Rachael Dangarembizi is an Associate Professor and neuroscientist in the Department of Human Biology and the Neuroscience Institute at the University of Cape Town whose main research interest is neuroimmune responses to fungal infections. Her current research focuses on the inflammatory response to Cryptococcus neoformans infection in the brain.
Dr Alisha Chetty
Dr Alisha Chetty is currently a UKRI/MRC African Research Leader Fellow in the Division of Immunology at the Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine (IDM), and a contributing investigator of the Centre for Infectious Diseases Research in Africa (CIDRI-Africa), at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. Her research focuses on the influence of distal mucosal infections and inflammation, on female genital health and fertility.
Dr A. Trevor Mnguni
Dr A. Trevor Mnguni is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Cape Town and has specialist interests in pulmonary manifestations of HIV, bronchiectasis, interstitial lung disease, pulmonary vascular diseases and interventional pulmonology. He obtained his MB ChB from the University of KwaZulu-Natal in 2007. He later completed his FCP at Groote Schuur Hospital and the University of Cape Town. He graduated with a Master of Medicine (cum laude) from the University of Cape Town and trained and graduated as the first black pulmonologist from the University of Cape Town and Groote Schuur Hospital. He is the current Head of Department of Internal Medicine at Khayelitsha District Hospital, and a consultant and senior lecturer in the Division of Internal Medicine at Stellenbosch University and Tygerberg Hospital.
Dr Caroline Ross
Dr Caroline Ross is an experimental and computational RNA biologist whose research focuses on understanding how gene expression is orchestrated in fungal pathogens. Her work aims to decode how regulatory information is encoded within RNA molecules themselves, encompassing transcriptional and translational control of gene dosage. She investigates the mechanisms and evolution of noncoding RNAs, exploring how these molecules modulate cellular function to drive fungal adaptation. Her approach integrates high-throughput sequencing, gene-editing technologies, and the development of computational frameworks to reveal the evolutionary signatures that shape RNA-based regulation.
Miss Sandisiwe Noholoza
Miss Sandisiwe Noholoza is the Research Unit Co-ordinator for the CMM AFRICA unit based at the University of Cape Town, South Africa.
Workshops and courses
4th Lecture and Practical Course in Medical Mycology | 1st - 5th December 2025 | Department of Pathology, University of Cape Town, South Africa.
The highly sought-after 2025 Lecture and Practical Course in Medical Workshop's participants included clinicians and medical scientists from a various African countries and South-East Asia. Both the theoretic and practical (laboratory) components of the training equipped participants with critical skills for diagnosing and treating fungal infections. Further, the workshop was highly interactive, fostering discussions and an exchange of ideas on practical strategies to address challenges and limitations participants face in their home countries, as it relates to fungal infection management. The workshop highlighted the importance of continued efforts to strengthen collaboration in the field of mycology, especially in the African and Asian context. As quoted by University of Exeter news, the Centre for Medical Mycology Africa (CMM AFRICA) Unit Director, Professor Claire Hoving, stated: “This workshop marks another pivotal step forward in building regional expertise to combat fungal infections, fostering collaborations that will improve patient outcomes and strengthen health systems globally.”
4th AIDS-related Mycoses Workshop, held on 10th - 12th July 2024 at the Institute of Infection Disease and Molecular Medicine, University of Cape Town, South Africa.
3rd Workshop on AIDS-related Mycoses | 10th - 12th July 2019 | Institute of Infection Disease and Molecular Medicine, University of Cape Town, South Africa.
At the 2019 meeting, we focused on highlighting the continuing problem of advanced HIV and the contribution of mycoses to AIDS deaths. We expanded the range of disease covered and discussed the latest advances and the challenges facing our field. The programme included public health, novel prevention and treatment strategies, basic science of host-pathogen interactions, immunology, antifungal resistance and genomics.
Read more on the course in Hoving et al. AIDS-Related Mycoses: Updated Progress and Future Priorities (2019). Trends in Microbiology 28 (6): 425-428.
Lecture and Practical Course in Medical Mycology | 10th - 14th December 2018 | Institute of Infection Disease and Molecular Medicine, University of Cape Town, South Africa.
Aims. The AFRICA CMM Unit, Institute Pasteur, Paris, and the AMBITION-cm Trial Consortium organised a week-long English-speaking course for scientists and clinicians aimed at providing a comprehensive overview of Medical Mycology. This lecture and practical course focused on the key fungal pathogens in Africa and covered the microbiological, immunological and clinical aspects of fungal diseases.
Lecture topics. Overview of host immunity and fungal pathogens, mechanisms of action of antifungal drugs and drug resistance, sessions of the physiopathology and management of the major pathogenic fungi present in Africa, with a specific focus on Cryptococcosis.
Practical topics. Basic techniques in the mycology laboratory, identification, diagnosis and histopathology of major pathogenic fungi, clinical case vignetter and how to be involved and manage clinical trials.
Audience. 32 attendees: 16 clinicians + 16 lab scientists / lab technicians
- 12 AMBITION sites delegates
- 4 DREAMM sites delegates
- 16 additional delegates (scientists or clinicians based in Africa – selected among 57 applications)
Teaching Team.
- MRC Centre for Medical Mycology (MRC CMM): Prof Gordon Brown, Prof Adilia Warris, Prof Carol Munro.
- Institut Pasteur, Paris: Prof Olivier Lortholary, Dr Alexandre Alanio, Dr Timothée Boyer Chammard, Dr Dea Garcia-Hermoso, Aude Sturny-Leclère.
- Wellcome Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Africa (CIDRI-Africa) and AFRICA CMM Unit: Dr Claire Hoving, Prof Graeme Meintjes.
- London School Hygiene and Tropical Medicine: Prof Joe Jarvis, Dr David Lawrence.
- St Georges Hospital, University College London: Prof Tom Harrison, Dr Angela Loyse, Dr Tihana Bicanic.
- National Institute for Communicable Diseases, Johannesburg: Dr Nelesh Govender.
- Douala General Hospital/National Public Health Laboratory, Yaounde: Dr Elvis Temfack.
