Two leading Wits scientists appointed to National Advisory Council on Innovation

Professor Lynn Morris and Professor Bavesh Kana will advise government on how to harness and grow innovation.

Professor Lynn Morris is Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Research and Innovation at Wits, while Professor Bavesh Kana is Director of the Department of Science and Innovation/National Research Foundation (DSI/NRF) Centre of Excellence for Biomedical TB Research.

Another Witsie in a leadership role at the Council is acting CEO of NACI, Dr Mlungisi Cele, who also serves on the Wits Council on appointment by the Department of Higher Education and Training.

The members of NACI (other than the CEO and the officer from the Department of Trade and Industry) are appointed in their personal capacities due to their outstanding achievement in any field of science and technology, or in the context of innovation, special knowledge, experience and insight into the role and contribution of innovation, in promoting and achieving national and provincial objectives

As NACI members, Morris and Kana thus do not represent Wits University specifically Rather, Morris represents higher education and Kana innovation In their personal capacities, they will provide a high-level view of innovation nationally, advise on innovation priorities, and expenditure

A National Research Foundation A-rated scientist, Morris is internationally recognised with demonstrable experience in research management and leadership. She was previously the interim Executive Director of the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) where she led the NICD through the listeria outbreak of 2017/18 and the Covid-19 pandemic from 2020. She has published some 270 journal articles, 11 book chapters, registered five patents and 11 scientific opinions She has consistently been included in the Web of Science’s most highly cited researchers in the world.

South Africa doesn’t fare well in innovation indicators Zero point 62 percent of our GDP goes into research and development in South Africa, says Morris.

NACI demonstrates that government values science, technology, and innovation and it’s very important to have that buy-in

“South Africa doesn’t fare well in innovation indicators. Zero point 62 percent of our GDP goes into research and development in South Africa,” says Morris “NACI demonstrates that government values science, technology, and innovation and it’s very important to have that buy-in.”

Zero point 62 percent is the 2019 figure in the South African Science, Technology and Innovation Indicators report (STI Indicators report, pg. 29), which NACI produces as a tool to monitor the National System of Innovation (NSI)

The report compares South Africa’s performance with selected countries and aims to identify relative strengths and weaknesses of the national research and innovation system and inform priorities to improve innovation performance

The Indicators report is influenced by the South African Innovation Scorecard and the NACI Monitoring and Evaluation Framework, as well as the expansive impact of the Covid-19 pandemic

According to the Indicators report,

Due to the prolonged Covid-19 pandemic the South African economic growth has declined with consequent negative impact on the NSI The gross expenditure in research and development [GERD] as a percentage of growth domestic product has declined to 0 62%, which is a worrying trend regarding the 1 5% target

As a NACI member, Morris can tap into different networks to gauge where South Africa is nationally and globally Morris says there was a big push on innovation during Covid-19 and NACI now is “about introducing technology to grow the economy ”

Such technologies include patents and the report shows that, in 2020, South Africa ranked below all four of the BRICS group of countries in Rankings in Patent Applications per Million Inhabitants Furthermore, South Africa also ranked lower than India for the first time in a decade (STI Indicators report, pg 33)

Fortunately, Professor Bavesh Kana – who researchers tuberculosis (TB) – is no stranger to successful patent applications The introduction of technology that tests for TB using molecular diagnostics was a game changer for national TB programmes This tech increased access to TB testing, which then improved diagnosis and treatment, and ultimately inhibited further infection

However, when the World Health Organization endorsed this molecular diagnostic test, there was no quality assurance in place to check the accuracy of the testing instruments Kana was part of the Wits team that developed the SmartSpot technology which, in South Africa, has been used on all 289 GeneXpert testing instruments in the national TB programme since 2011

In 2020, Kana pivoted this technology to support national diagnosis of Covid-19 through supporting laboratories in the public sector He created a new series of products that enabled mass testing in South Africa, which have now been rolled out to 34 countries. For these and related activities, his team was awarded the South African NSTF-South32 Innovation Award: Corporate Organisation, for 2020/2021

Read how Wits University approaches innovation to advance society for good via the new Wits Innovation Centre (WIC)

Did you know the Wits Innovation Centre (WIC) lies at the heart of the University’s innovation ecosystem that seeks to develop an ‘innovation mindset’ across all disciplines and boundaries? Click the banner for info

Respiratory virus plagues SA but new vaccine for pregnant moms saves babies

Does immunising a woman during pregnancy protect her unborn baby against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in the months after it is born?This is what the MATISSE study conducted in 18 countries including South Africa aimed to find out.

The Maternal Immunization Study for Safety and Efficacy (MATISSE) phase 3 trial evaluated the efficacy and safety of maternal RSVpreF vaccination in preventing RSV-associated lower respiratory tract illness in infants

Respiratory syncytial virus [RSV] is the most common cause of hospitalisation in children under five years of age, and even more so in those younger than six months

Researchers at the Wits Vaccines and Infectious Diseases Analytics Research Unit (Wits VIDA) at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, led the MATISSE trial in South Africa.

The researchers wanted to find out if administering Pfizer’s Bivalent Prefusion F Vaccine in pregnancy could reduce the burden of RSV-associated lower respiratory tract illness in new-borns and infants and, if so, how well, and for how long?

In this trial, as part of a multi-centred study, Wits VIDA report that vaccination of pregnant women with the RSV vaccine is safe, and reduces the risk of severe RSV associated lower respiratory tract infection by 82% in infants aged through to six months old says study author and Director of Wits VIDA, Professor Shabir Madhi. gency to immunise against RSV espiratory tract infections (LRTI) are the most n cause of hospitalisation and death in children onths of age, particularly in low- and middlecountries (LMICs).

The findings were published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) on 5 April 2023.

The release of these study findings, in which South African scientists played a prominent role, comes at a time when RSV is back with a vengeance in SA, with paediatric wards being filled with children in whom illness can now be prevented with this new RSV vaccine.

RSV is the most common cause of LRTI hospitalisation in children, occurring in some 30-80% of cases Approximately two-thirds of children will be infected at least once by RSV in the first two years of life, a third of whom will develop LRTI

In 2019, it was estimated that there were 101 400 RSV-attributable deaths, 99% of which occurred in LMICs and 50% of which were in children less than 6 months of age

Death from RSV is likely to be underestimated in lowincome settings. There has been no change in the burden of RSV over the past two decades.

RSV-LTRI immunisation a global priority and a LMIC urgency

Vaccines to prevent RSV-LRTI are considered a priority by the World Health Organization. There is currently no antiviral treatment for children with RSV infection, and management of RSV-LRTI is symptom based Palivizumab, a costly monoclonal antibody, is the only licensed effective strategy to reduce the risk of RSVLRTI hospitalisation in South Africa

The MATISSE study shows that the RSV prefusion F protein-based vaccine (RSVpreF) administered during the late second or third trimester of pregnancy may protect infants from severe RSV illness during the first few months of life – this would be particularly important in low- and middle-income countries, where the burden of RSV-associated lower respiratory tract illness is highest.

Wits and US Congress celebrate 20 years of PEPFAR

The Wits Reproductive Health and HIV Institute hosted a US Congress Delegation to mark the programme’s two decades of HIV/Aids relief.

The U.S. Congress delegation, led by Senator Lindsey Graham, Ambassador John Nkengasong, Ambassador Reuben Brigety and senior principals from the Elton John Foundation, visited the Wits Reproductive Health and HIV Institute based in the Hillbrow Health Precinct (HHP) in Johannesburg for a high-level science focused event They were given an opportunity to engage with world-class South African scientists and researchers to highlight key scientific activities and their impact on HIV programmes.

It was in 2003 that former President George W Bush initiated the U S President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, known as PEPFAR Through PEPFAR, the U S government has invested over $100 billion in the global HIV/AIDS response, the largest commitment by any nation to address a single disease in history, saving 25 million lives, preventing millions of HIV infections, and accelerating progress toward controlling the global HIV/AIDS pandemic in more than 50 countries.

The Daily Maverick's J Brook Spector described it as "the most important public health/foreign assistance initiative ever undertaken, becoming a template for international efforts against other diseases."

What the world needs

Professor Helen Rees, Executive Director of Wits RHI, welcomed the delegation alongside Wits University's

Rees, an internationally recognised global health leader, established the Wits RHI in 1994 to support the new South African government and formulate and implement new national policies around sexual and reproductive health. It was in 2004 that the institute received its first grant from PEPFAR

She provided a brief overview of the history of Hillbrow and the HHP, providing a valuable context of the historical events that impact HIV research and programming in South Africa She also emphasised the need for partnerships, not just in South Africa but globally.

"What the world does not need, if we are worried about pandemics, is we do not need to neglect people who are immunocompromised in large numbers in any part of the world", adding that research has demonstrated that there are no borders

Rees told the delegation that there's a need to link the work done in collaboration with PEPFAR, with the global health community

"The PEPFAR program has come such a long way to helping us address HIV/AIDS but we're not there yet We need the preventative technologies that we're talking about, we need a vaccine, we need a cure but we're not there yet," she said

*Read full article

Successful cure of HIV infection after stem cell transplantation

An international group of researchers including Wits scientists have identified a third case of HIV infection cured by stem cell transplantation.

Haematopoietic stem cell transplantation for the treatment of severe blood cancers is the only medical intervention that previously cured two people living with HIV.

'Haematopoietic' refers to an immature cell that can develop into all types of blood cells, including white blood cells, red blood cells, and platelets Hematopoietic stem cells are found in the peripheral blood and the bone marrow and are also called blood stem cell

An international group of physicians and researchers, including Dr Annemarie Wensing of Ezintsha, a division of the Wits Health Consortium, and Dr Monique Nijhuis in the HIV Pathogenesis Research Unit at Wits, has now identified another case in which HIV infection has been shown to be cured in the same way

In a study published today in Nature Medicine, the successful healing process of this third patient was for the first time characterised in great detail virologically and immunologically over a 10-year duration

An infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) was previously considered incurable The reason for this is that the virus ‘sleeps’ in the genome of infected cells for long periods of time, making it invisible and inaccessible to both the immune system and antiviral drugs

The ‘Düsseldorf patient’, a 53-year-old man, is now the third person in the world to be completely cured of the HI virus by a stem cell transplant.

The patient, treated at the University Hospital Düsseldorf for his HIV infection, had received a stem cell transplant due to a blood cancer (leukaemia).

As in the cases of the first two patients, named ‘Berlin’ and ‘London’ respectively, the Düsseldorf patient received stem cells from a healthy donor whose genome contains a mutation in the gene for the HIV-1 co-receptor CCR5

This mutation makes it nearly impossible for most HI viruses to enter human CD4+ T-lymphocytes, their major target cells that cause HIV infection in humans Following transplantation, the Düsseldorf patient was carefully monitored virologically and immunologically for almost 10 years

Using a variety of sensitive techniques, the researchers analysed the patient’s blood and tissue samples to closely monitor immune responses to HIV and the continued presence or even replication of the virus

More than four years ago, the patient’s antiviral therapy against HIV was discontinued Ten years after transplantation and four years after the end of anti-HIV therapy, the Düsseldorf patient could be declared cured by the international research consortium.

We could not detect any complete HIV variants in tissues or blood. HIV immunity also faded away, which shows that the immune system is forgetting about the HIV infection that was once there This cure means that we do gain insight in the dynamics of the immune systems and the viral reservoirs during cure. The implications are that switching off the CCR5 receptor is a key step in these cures. However, the limitations are that stem cell transplantations cannot be performed on a large scale, so other ways to modify the receptor need to be studied.

says Clinical virologist Dr Annemarie Wensing

Wensing is an Honorary Professor at Ezintsha, a division of the Wits Health Consortium at Wits University in South Africa, and Assistant Professor at the University Medical Center Utrecht in the

Netherlands

Dr Monique Nijhuis, Honorary Professor in the HIV Pathogenesis Research Unit, School of Pathology at Wits University, and Associate Professor of Virology at the University Medical Center Utrecht in The Netherlands, was involved in the patients’ pathological analysis and was also a co-author of the 2023 Nature Medicine article