CIDRI-Africa

04/02/2026

Meet the team: Robert J Wilkinson, CIDRI-Africa Director, Wellcome Senior Fellow in Clinical Science at Imperial College London and senior Group Leader the Francis Crick Institute
buff.ly/3mxSEZ3

30/01/2026

Your weekend read from the : "Mycobacterial α-glucans hijack dectin-1 to facilitate intracellular bacterial survival"
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciimmunol.adw0732

Mycobacterial α-glucans target dectin-1, altering phagosomal maturation and enhancing intracellular bacterial survival.

28/01/2026

Meet the team: yours truly, Claire Whitaker. I have a background in biological research, extensive experience as a project officer and science communicator, and hold a PhD from UKZN on the seed biology of Welwitschia mirabilis.

26/01/2026

A 60-year-old man with recently diagnosed HIV infection presented with a 10-day history of fever, dry cough, and shortness of breath. A CT scan of the chest showed diffuse nodules and ground-glass opacities.

26/01/2026

"anyone can get TB, from any background. [...]Talking about TB more openly is one way to reduce stigma." 💛

South Africa had several “family chats” in which President Cyril Ramaphosa addressed the nation during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. He should do the same for tuberculosis, argues Dr Janet Giddy of the advocacy group TB Proof.

23/01/2026

New 📃 : "Immunoglobulin M regulates airway hyperresponsiveness independent of T helper 2 allergic inflammation"

23/01/2026

An excellent course supporting clinicians with practical, evidence-based learning in TB care. For more information, course modules, and to register, go here: https://sahivsoc.org/Subheader/Index/tuberculosis-management-and-control-online-course-

21/01/2026

Meet the team: member Nashreen Omar-Davies is our Diagnostic Radiographer; she also holds a certificate in Ultrasound Obstetrics and Gynaecology. She generates x-ray images as one of the screening tools for diagnosis of TB and also oversees clinical logistics.

15/01/2026

Deadlines are approaching for the Keystone Symposium "Tuberculosis: Understanding the Disease Across Scales", this March in Cape Town! See scholarship, abstract and discount reg dates: keysym.us/KSTB26
Early Registration Deadline: January 22, 2026
Poster Abstract Deadline: March 2, 2026

Join us at the Keystone Symposia on Tuberculosis: Understanding the Disease Across Scales, March 2026, in Cape Town, with field leaders!

18/12/2025

Balancing risks: can one-month treatment safely prevent TB disease in people living with diabetes mellitus?

The Centre for Infectious Diseases Research in Africa’s BALANCE trial site at Khayelitsha Site B Community Health Centre (CHC), Cape Town screened its first participants in July 2025, and by December had enrolled more than 100 participants. Chief Investigator Prof. Molebogeng Rangaka leads the multi-site multi-country trial, a study investigating whether a new short-duration tuberculosis (TB) preventive treatment is safe and effective for people with diabetes who are at risk of developing TB disease.
The new one-month TB preventive treatment includes the antibiotics rifapentine and isoniazid (known as 1HP).1HP has been shown to prevent TB disease in people living with HIV and has other benefits since more people complete the short treatment and it causes fewer side effects than standard 6- or 9-month TB preventive treatment.
“We think this new shorter treatment may alter the balance of benefit against potential harms. If it works, this could result in a change in WHO policy in favour of providing 1HP TB preventive treatment to people living with diabetes,” said Prof. Rangaka. WHO does not currently recommend standard 6- or 9-month TB preventive treatment for people with diabetes who are not living with HIV or are recent contacts of people with active disease since it is not clear if the benefit would outweigh the risks of treatment. However, people with diabetes have an increased chance of developing TB disease and dying from TB.
1HP has not yet been studied in people with diabetes or people without HIV. The team plans to find the best strategy for TB prevention for people with diabetes who are HIV-negative and likely infected with the bacterium that causes TB.
Prof. Robert J Wilkinson, study collaborator, explained: “People who choose to participate will be randomly assigned by computer to either a group that receives enhanced diabetes care plus 1HP, or a group that receives enhanced diabetes care alone. We will monitor who develops TB disease and who develops side effects from the treatments in each group.”

More about the BALANCE trial
The “Benefit-risk of TB prevention treatment for people with diabetes” (“BALANCE”) trial will recruit a total of 3,100 people older than 15 with diabetes who live in the Philippines and South Africa; the trial will run for 5 years. The Philippines clinical research sites in the City of Dasmariñas and City of Muntinlupa, managed by CareCT, are expected to begin recruitment in the first quarter of 2026.

Photos contributed by MG Mahlaka RD(SA), Dietitian: Khayelitsha Site B CHC

17/12/2025

Meet the team: Data Systems Manager Amanda Jackson. She develops data management systems for a range of health-related research studies using RedCap, OpenClinica, FileMaker and MS Access, and develops and oversees data entry, processing and validation functions.

10/12/2025

Meet the team: Senior Research Manager Rene Goliath is a qualified nurse with several diplomas. She supports regulatory affairs, clinical and staff management at CIDRI-Africa