SAVE THE DATE | 3rd African Microbiome Symposium
We are delighted to announce that the 3rd African Microbiome Symposium will be taking place at the Biomedical Research Institute (BMRI), Tygerberg Campus, Stellenbosch University, on 21 - 22 November 2024. Please mark the dates in your calendar, and see our upcoming newsletters for event updates.
2nd 2024 AMI Quarterly Scientific meeting | Speaker announcement
This will be a virtual event, please join us at 14:00 on the 9th of May via MS Teams.
Versatility and Variety at the 1st 2024 AMI Quarterly Scientific Meeting | 29 February 2024
The first AMI Quarterly Scientific Meeting for the year 2024 embodied the depth of expertise in our network, with research representing many disciplines. This hybrid event saw colleagues from different institutions joining in-person at the BMRI and online. Dr Lobke Steyn presented research performed by her student, Michelle Gouws, that elucidated the comparative effects of essential oil compounds and monensin in the diet of pre-weaned calves on the prevalence of antibiotic resistant Escherichia coli. Megan Tattersall presented some of her MSc research, which is focused on the evaluation of Nanopore metagenomic sequencing for the detection and characterisation of infectious causes of disease. Hein Venter from Anatech shared how phenotypic research can be accessed through the Odin (Biolog, USA) all-in-one solution for cellular metabolic characterization, growth kinetics, and identification.
From Left to Right: Mr Hein Venter (Anatech), Ms Megan Tattersall (Division Medical Microbiology, SU), Dr Suereta Fortuin (AMI), Dr Lobke Steyn (Animal Sciences, SU).
Sending off 2023 in microbiome style | 4th 2023 AMI Quarterly Scientific Meeting | 30 November 2023
The final scientific meeting for 2023 captivated the audience with talks from Mr Alaric Prince (Digging into the South African actinobiome - microbiome research at AMHBI, CPUT), Dr Nompumelelo Nyembe (Application of genome-guided approaches for the discovery of novel drug candidates) and Dr Rene Naidoo-Blassoples (Synthetic Microbial Ecosystems: Can they be used to study microbial community function?).
From Left to Right: Mr Alaric Prince (AMHBI, CPUT), Dr Nompumelelo Nyembe (IMBM, UWC), Dr Rene Naidoo-Blassoples (DVO, SU).
Building multi-discliplinary connections at the 3rd 2023 AMI Quarterly Scientific Meeting | 28 September 2023
The third AMI Quarterly Scientific Meeting for the year 2023 was truly a celebration of microbiome research, with a total of five presenters from three institutions. Dr Anna Happel (UCT), Ms Ruvarashe Madzime (SU), Dr Itumeleng Moroenyane (SU), Dr Sylvia Riedel (SA-MRC), and Dr Matsepo Ramaboli (SU) all presented their exciting research.
From Left to Right: Dr Matsepo Ramaboli, Ms Ruvarashe Madzime, Dr Sylvia Riedel, Dr Itumeleng Moroenyane.
Microbiome Mondays 1 | 06 May 2024
Microbiome Mondays aims to introduce basic microbiome-related concepts in an accessible way. We will also discuss bioinformatics and sequencing approaches for microbiomics to researchers who are not already trained in the field. This will be a virtual event, please join us for the first session at 12:00 on the 6th of May, which tackles the topics of diversity and abundance.
AMI Quarterly Scientific Meeting 2 | 09 May 2024
This will be a virtual event, please join us at 14:00 on the 9th of May via MS Teams.
AMI Quarterly Scientific Meeting 3 | 05 September 2024
This event will be held in-person at Stellenbosch campus (Venue TBC) and online. Please contact us if you would like the opportunity to present at this meeting. Presenters will have 10 - 15 minutes to present microbiome-related research (including proposals & research group summaries). This includes, but is not limited to, microbiota analysis, metagenomics, metabolomics/metabolic analysis, resistome analysis and immunological microbiome analysis.
3rd African Microbiome Symposium | 21-22 November 2024
This event will be taking place at the Biomedical Research Institute (BMRI), Tygerberg Campus, Stellenbosch University.
Save the date for 21 - 22 November 2024.
AMI Quarterly Scientific meetings
The AMI hosts up to 4 scientific meetings per year that showcase a diverse range of microbiome research from all disciplines and institutions. These meetings are open to all, presented in hybrid format and provide networking opportunities for attendees, especially those who are able to attend in person. Please contact us if you would like the opportunity to present at these meetings.
The speakers of the 2nd 2023 AMI Quarterly Scientific Meeting on the 27h of June, at the JH Neethling Building, Stellenbosch University.
From Left to Right: Dr Tersia Conradie, Dr Shantelle Claassen-Weitz, Prof Tulio de Oliveira, and Prof Craig Kinnear.
Biennial SU African Microbiome Symposium
With the help and support of the Rector’s office, the AMI convened the first SU African Microbiome Symposium and Workshop at the STIAS conference facility in Stellenbosch, along with a hands-on 2-day workshop in microbiome bioinformatics. The symposium was assured success by the participation of 12 overseas experts who not only gave their time, but also financed their own travel to the meeting. Independent reviews of the meetings were uniformly excellent. The symposium was summarized in a published report, led by the AMI postdoctoral fellows, Dr Matsepo Ramaboli and Dr Lucky Nesengani, and can be accessed here. Following the tremendous success of this program, the AMI has endeavoured to repeat these meetings at SU biennially. Subsequently, the 2nd African Microbiome Symposium was held in December 2022 at the Jan Mouton Learning Centre in Stellenbosch, again with strong support from the rector. This event led to the establishment of the African Microbiome Network and the symposium was also accompanied by a hands-on microbiome analysis workshop. Building on the momentum of these events, the 3rd African Microbiome Symposium will be held in November 2024.
A group picture from the 2nd African Microbiome Symposium (2022)..
The 1st AMI Symposium reception and networking event (2019) held at The Old Nectar Historic Homestead Estate and Gardens, Jonkershoek Valley, Stellenbosch.
From Left to Right: Dr Matsepo Ramaboli, Ms Theresa Rausch, Dr Sören Ocvirk, Ms Grace Barker, Dr James Kinross, Dr Jia Li, and Mrs Elizabeth O’Keefe.
AMI Blitz
Because of the wide interest in the microbiome by all Faculties of the University, the first AMI “Blitz” presentation was organized in April 2019 to allow each young investigator to present the essence of their research enquiries on a maximum of 3 slides to a wide audience. This was extremely successful, revealing the tremendous potential for inter-faculty research collaborations within the University. This success was replicated in the second AMI Blitz in 2023, where both local and international researchers showcased their units' work. This event was made possible with the sponsorship from Inqaba biotec.
The 2023 AMI Blitz held at the JH Neethling Building, Stellenbosch University.
From Top Left to Right: Prof Karin Jacobs, Ms Lauren Martin, Dr Matsepo Ramaboli, Audience, Prof Florian Bauer, Dr Kristien Nel Van Zyl, and Ms Natasha Kitchin.
The 2023 AMI Blitz networking event held at the JH Neethling Building, Stellenbosch University.
A group photo at the 2019 AMI “Blitz”.
From Left to Right: Prof Stephen O’Keefe, Prof Eugene Cloete, Prof Leon Dicks, Prof Nico Gey van Pittius, Prof Vikash Sewram, and Prof Peter Nyasulu.
