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UCT Research Report '11
532
Students
Post-doctoral
10
Doctoral
34
Master’s
30
Honours
14
Undergraduate
253
TOTAL
341
Research Fields and Staff
Permanent Staff
Associate Professor Vernon Coyne
Head of Department; marine biotechnology.
Professor Jill Farrant
Desiccation tolerance; resurrection plants; seeds; plant
physiology; molecular biology.
Professor Janet Hapgood
Molecular mechanisms of cell signalling and eukaryotic
gene regulation via steroid receptors: role in HIV
pathogenesis, immune and reproductive function.
Professor Nicola Illing
Evolution of development; regulation of gene expression;
limb development, neurobiology; microarray analysis.
Professor Edward Rybicki
Plant-andtissueculture-derivedvaccines;oceanicviromics;
Human papillomavirus (HPV); rotavirus; bluetongue virus;
Beak and feather disease virus; geminivirus; Maize streak
virus; molecular virology; molecular biotechnology.
Associate Professor Val Abratt
Bacteroides fragilis
; nitrogen metabolism; virulence;
metronidazole; DNA damage and repair;
Bifidobacterium
;
Lactobacillus
; probiotics.
Associate Professor Sharon Reid
Gram-positive and anaerobic bacteria;
Clostridium
acetobutylicum
;
Bifidobacterium
;
Lactobacillus
, gene
regulation of nitrogen- and carbon-substrate utilisation;
probiotics; molecular systematics; biofuels.
Dr Colleen O’Ryan
Senior lecturer; molecular, evolutionary and population
genetics.
Dr Laura Roden
Senior Lecturer; flowering time and photoperiodism; plant
and human circadian rhythms; regulation of plant gene
expression; plant molecular biology;
Arabidopsis
genetics.
Dr Robert Ingle
Lecturer; interactions between plants and their environment
(plant innate immunity, metal hyperaccumulating plants).
Dr Paul Meyers
Lecturer; actinobacteria; family
Streptosporangiaceae
;
Streptomyces
;
Amycolatopsis
;
Kribbella
; bacterial
taxonomy; “bioprospecting”; novel antitubercular antibiotics.
Dr Thomas Oelgeschläger
Lecturer; molecular mechanisms of RNA polymerase II
transcription regulation in eukaryotes; core promoter-
selective transcription regulationmechanisms; transcription
regulation in
Plasmodium falciparum.
Dr Suhail Rafudeen
Lecturer; abiotic stress tolerance in plants; signalling
and regulation of plant gene expression during stress;
plant molecular biology; proteomics (protein expression
profiling, protein mining);
Xerophyta viscosa
; maize; Tef.
Dr Jerry Rodrigues
Lecturer; protein chemistry; drug discovery; plant
desiccation tolerance; polyphenol research.
Dr Zenda Woodman
Lecturer; HIV: structure-function and viral fitness;
biochemical analysis of envelope’s role inHIVpathogenesis.
Honorary Staff
Emeritus Associate Professor Wolf Brandt
Protein chemistry; proteomics; MALDI-TOF mass-
spectrometry; HPLC, desiccation tolerance; polyphenols.
Emeritus Professor Horst Klump
Physical biochemistry; uncommon DNA structures;
self-assembly nanostructures; drug delivery systems;
non‑equilibrium DNA structures; triplet repeat diseases;
origin and early development of the genetic code.
Emeritus Professor Jennifer Thomson
Transgenic maize for resistance to the African
Maize
streak virus
and tolerance to drought.
Contract Research Staff
Dr Andrea du Toit
Post-doctoral fellow; novel mechanisms of rapid, non-
genomic reciprocal cross talk between the glucocorticoid
receptor and the gonadotropin-releasing hormone
receptor.
Dr Kerry Gordon
Post-doctoral fellow; HIV-1 envelope structure and
function; understanding the glycosylation requirements of
HIV-1 envelope during transmission.
Dr Inga Hitzeroth
Senior Research Officer; plant-derived vaccines; Human
Papillomaviruses (HPV), Beak and Feather disease virus
(BFDV), Rotavirus and Influenza virus.