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NEP grants put SU on the forefront of molecular imaging in Africa
Author: Wilma Stassen
Published: 20/03/2019

​​Thanks to two successful National Equipment Programme (NEP) applications, Stellenbosch University's (SU) Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (FMHS) will be acquiring two state-of-the-art laboratory instruments which have, until now, not been available on the African continent.

The applications, one led by Profs Samantha Sampson (Biomedical Sciences) and Carine Smith (Physiological Sciences), and the other by Profs Gerhard Walzl (Biomedical Sciences) and Lydia-Marie Joubert (Microbiology), were for an imaging flow cytometer and a serial blockface field emission scanning electron microscope (SBF-SEM). The instruments are valued at R12,6 million and R15 million respectively.

“These instruments promise to open up many new opportunities and research avenues in the imaging arena," says Sampson, who holds the SARChI Chair in Mycobactomics.

Although both instruments will be housed at the FMHS, it is intended for broad access and researchers from other fields and faculties in the university, and from other institutions, will have access to the facilities. The instruments will be managed by SU's Central Analytical Facilities (CAF).

“Currently there are no such instruments in Africa, and with this acquisition we are going to be right on the cutting edge of this type of research. It will have a range of applications and will support multidisciplinary research on a scale that was not possible before," says Sampson.

The imaging flow cytometer is equipped with a high-resolution microscope and camera. This enables the association of a high-definition image of every cell that passes through the flow cytometer for detection by laser-based optics. It combines the speed, sensitivity, and phenotyping abilities of flow cytometry with the detailed imaging and functional insights of microscopy in a single instrument.

“This instrument will have significant societal and economic impacts in the areas of healthcare, environment and biotechnology," explains Sampson.

“In the medical sciences, the imaging flow cytometer will support research on both infectious (TB, HIV, etc.) and non-communicable diseases (e.g. diabetes), with the ultimate goal of informing novel interventions and contributing to improved public health, wellbeing and quality of life."

According to her environmental microbiology research will also be supported by this instrument. “This will advance areas of research such as animal TB and wastewater management, which have both human health and economic implications." 

The ultrahigh resolution field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM), with advanced system for automated 3D microscopy by in situ ultramicrotomy, allows automated and uninterrupted nanoscale slicing and imaging of biological and soft materials, with integrated 3D reconstruction of cell volumes.

“The instrument will bring us to the global forefront of innovation in high resolution imaging and 3D ultrastructural analysis and will lead to major scientific and technological progress," says Joubert, an associate professor in microbiology and the Electron Microscopy Unit Manager at CAF.

Joubert explains: “The international exposure and collaboration enabled with the acquisition of this instrument – especially as a tool in medicine and health sciences – will create further opportunities to be competitive and solve the country's health and social challenges."

In the medical sciences, this technology will benefit all cellular and microbiological research, including research in neuroscience, cardiothoracic, pulmonology, ophthalmology and cancer. Non-medical disciplines, such as physiology, food sciences and technology, polymer science, biotechnology and botany, will also benefit by applying this technology in research. 


 

Caption: Profs Lydia-Marie Joubert, Samantha Sampson and Carine Smith.

Photo: Wilma Stassen