 17th
International Conference of the Society of Neuroscientists of Africa Marrakesh-Morocco April, 17-20, 2025 |
IBRO-sponsored
Symposium 16
Symposium 16
Title: Neuroinfections
Organizer: Francesca Cirulli & Rachael Dangarembizi
Neuroscience Institute, University of Cape Town, South Africa
Center for Behavioral Sciences and Mental Health, Instituto Superiori di Sanita, Italy
email: rachael.dangarembizi@uct.ac.za; francesca.cirulli@iss.it
Abstract:
| Neuroinfections from bacterial,
viral, fungal and parasitic pathogens pose a significant burden on
Africa's health systems, particularly affecting vulnerable populations
like children, pregnant women, and immunosuppressed individuals living
with HIV/AIDS. By far the most debilitating and fatal opportunistic
infectious diseases are those that cause damage to the nervous system
and each year Africa loses millions of potentially productive brains to
these infections. Despite this, neuroinfections have been neglected in research and policy and there is very little data on how brain injury occurs in these diseases to guide the development of diagnostic tools and to aid in drug development. We have curated a panel of leading neuroinfections researchers studying bacterial, viral, fungal and parasitic diseases to share their research with the rest of the neuroscience community at SONA. The Symposium will help showcase the work currently occurring in the neuroinfections field in Africa and hopefully open the much-needed discussion around scaling up neuroinfections research and reduce their impact of African brain health. IBRO fully funds this Symposium and will be held in collaboration with the journal Neuroscience. |
Speakers
| Number |
Speaker |
e-mail |
Title
of the communication |
| SP16_1 |
Muazzam Jacobs |
muazzam.jacobs@uct.ac.za | The transcriptomic profile of Astrocytes during Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection. |
| SP16_2 |
Anja de Lange |
anja.delange@uct.ac.za |
Brain injury, inflammation, and immunometabolic dysregulation in a murine model of cryptococcal meningitis |
| SP16_3 |
Duyilemi Ajonijebu | Chris.Ajonijebu@mandela.ac.za | IL-4R Inhibition
and Prostacyclin Treatment in Trypanosome-Induced Neurological Disorders |
| SP16_4 |
Ashmita
Manillal |
ashmita.manillal@wits.ac.za |
Cytokine-mediated inflammatory
responses in neonatal Group B Streptococcus disease and their role in
neurodevelopmental impairment |
| SP16_5 | Lumbuka
Kaunda |
lkaunda@unza.zm |
HIV-1
Clade C and Coinfections in the ART Era in Zambian Adults Living with
HIV |