UCT researchers join multi-million-pound fungal fight

Researchers at the University of Cape Town (UCT) are playing a leading role in a significant international collaboration to fast-track the understanding of fungal diseases that claim about 2.5 million lives each year.

The funding of £4.5 million (approximately R100 million) awarded by the Wellcome Trust will support the Mycology Bioimaging Initiative (MBI). This is a global effort to develop cutting-edge tools that allow scientists to visualise how dangerous fungal pathogens grow, spread and cause disease.

UCT researchers, based in the Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine (IDM) and the Neuroscience Institute (NI), are central to the initiative, working alongside partners at the University of Exeter in England, and the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.

Advancing research where the burden is highest

Fungal infections disproportionately affect low- and middle-income countries, including South Africa, where HIV/AIDS and other conditions increase vulnerability to life-threatening infections.

Professor Claire Hoving, based in the Centre for Medical Mycology (CMM) AFRICA Unit at the IDM, emphasised the importance of building scientific capacity where the need is greatest.

“Leveraging advanced imaging technologies while being supported by locally embedded, yet globally connected, systems helps ensure that expertise, diagnostic capacity and tools remain within the regions most impacted by disease. This approach reduces delays in diagnosis, guides more effective treatment strategies, and ultimately improves health outcomes for vulnerable populations.”

The initiative aims to build a sustainable, connected network of scientists equipped to tackle fungal diseases long into the future through training and collaboration.

Understanding emerging and deadly pathogens

IDM researchers will focus on fungal pathogens of growing global concern, including Emergomyces, which was first identified in South Africa in 2013 and is now recognised as causing widespread infection.

In parallel, Professor Rachael Dangarembizi and her team in the NI will investigate how the fungal infection Cryptococcus neoformans affects the brain, particularly in people living with HIV.

“Using advanced light-sheet imaging, our team will develop novel tools to visualise Cryptococcus in intact brains, giving us an unprecedented view of how the infection spreads and disrupts the brain in this fatal disease,” said Professor Dangarembizi.

New tools to see the unseen

A major barrier in fungal research has been the lack of tools to observe these microscopic organisms in real time. Through the MBI, researchers will develop advanced imaging technologies to track fungal growth, fluorescent markers to study infection at the cellular level and computational tools to analyse the complex biological datasets.

These innovations will enable the scientists to better understand how fungi invade the body, evade treatment, and develop drug resistance.

A global collaboration with local impact

While led by the University of Exeter, the MBI reflects a truly global partnership, with UCT scientists playing a key role in ensuring that solutions are relevant to the regions most affected by fungal disease.