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UCT JOINS WELLCOME LEAP
GLOBAL NETWORK
A global group of leading academic and research institutions,
the network is committed to solving the world’s most serious
health challenges at record speed.
Wellcome Leap is a United States nonprofit organisation founded by the
Wellcome Trust in 2020 to accelerate
innovations that benefit global health.
Joining the network means UCT is also
a signatory to the first-of-its-kind Master
Academic Research Funding Agreement
(MARFA). The MARFA helps eliminate barriers
to progress including intellectual property
ownership and publication.
“UCT looks forward to working with the
global research community to unleash truly
transformative human health solutions far
quicker than has thus far been possible,”
said Professor Sue Harrison, UCT’s
Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Research and
Internationalisation.
Already this progress is being instigated,
with UCT’s Dr Virginie Rozot receiving a
multi‑year contract as part of Wellcome Leap’s
Delta Tissue (∆T) programme. A research
officer at the South African Tuberculosis
Vaccine Initiative (SATVI), Rozot will use the
funding to study the human immune system’s
response to the tuberculosis (TB) bacterium,
Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tb).
TB was responsible for 1.4 million deaths
worldwide in 2019, according to the World
Health Organisation (WHO). Over 450 000 of
those were in South Africa. Rozot’s work will
play an integral part in the design of TB vaccine
and immunisation strategies.
“As a female early‑career researcher, this is
an incredible opportunity to dig into a project
for which I have a passion, with a fantastic
team at SATVI and a network of South African
and international collaborators,” she said.
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UCT looks forward to working with the
global research community to unleash truly
transformative human health solutions far
quicker than has thus far been possible.
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