R153m grant for UKZN’s TB research

The KZN Research Institute for Tuberculosis and HIV at the University of KwaZulu-Natal has received a R153 million grant.

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Durban - The KwaZulu-Natal Research Institute for Tuberculosis and HIV (K-RITH) at the University of KwaZulu-Natal has received a R153 million grant, the university announced on Thursday.

University spokesperson Lesiba Seshoka said that the announcement of the grant from the Wellcome (CORR) Trust and the United Kingdom Department for International Development was made in Kenya on Thursday morning.

Seshoka said the grant would be used to set up a network of universities and research institutes, called the Sub-Saharan African Network for TB/HIV Research Excellence (SANTHE).

“The network’s vision is to conduct pioneering research that will improve the health of the population, and develop capacity within the continent through training African researchers and scientists. SANTHE will link 12 partner institutions and four main research sites in South Africa, Botswana, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and Zambia and aims to expand over time.”

The project would be headed up by K-RITH’s Professor Thumbi Ndung’u.

Ndung’u was one of seven leading African researchers to be awarded funding from the trust’s DELTAS Africa programme, which aims to establish cutting-edge research and training programmes across the continent.

The Wellcome Trust is one of the world’s largest medical trusts, that was established following the death in 1936 of British American pharmaceutical entrepreneur Henry Wellcome.

ANA