Professor Frank Brombacher
Professor Frank Brombacher PhD (MPI/University of Freiburg) Fellow of UCT
Scientific Coordinator for Immunology and Infectious Diseases, African International Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB), Cape Town; South African Research Chair (SARChI) for Immunology of Infectious Diseases in Africa; Director, Medical Research Council Unit, Immunology of Infectious Diseases, UCT; Visiting Professor, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow; President, South African Immunology Society (SAIS); Full Member, Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine & Division of Immunology, Department of Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, UCT.
Our main research is focused on the understanding of host protective immune responses in relevant human diseases. Here, we are investigating important regulatory mechanisms, including pattern recognition receptors, cytokine network and cellular crosstalk during innate immunity, which may lead to subsequent adaptive immunity or failure thereof. Our strategy is centered around a 'gain of knowledge by loss of function' approach based on deficient mouse models, generated by gene targeting in embryonic stem cells. Four of the top ten WHO declared human infectious diseases are under investigations in our laboratory, including experimental mouse models for tuberculosis, leishmaniasis, trypanosomiasis as well as helminth infections, schistosomiasis among them. Further on, we have a major interest in allergic diseases, including allergic asthma with special emphasis on food-related allergies.
Publications:
See publications on Google Scholar.
Contact details:
Werner Beit South Building room S1.27
ICGEB, Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine
Faculty of Health Sciences
University of Cape Town
Observatory 7925
South Africa
Tel: +27 21 406 6147
+27 21 406 6616
Fax: +27 21 406 6029
Email: frank.brombacher@uct.ac.za
Alternate sites: http://www.icgeb.org
Group members:
| Member | Position |
|---|---|
| Wendy Green | Technical Assistant |
| Munadia Ansarie | Laboratory Technologist |
| George Jacobs | Laboratory Assistant |
| Marlon Petersen | Laboratory Assistant |
| Zarinah Sonday-Jattiem | Research Technician |
| Tiroyaone Brombacher | Research Officer |
| Suraj Parihar | Senior Researcher |
| Sabelo Hadebe | Career Research Fellow |
| Justin Nono | Postdoctoral fellow |
| Ousman Tamgue | Postdoctoral fellow |
| Paulin Essone | Postdoctoral fellow |
| Melissa Govender | Postdoctoral fellow |
| Mumin Otzturk | Postdoctoral fellow |
| Lorna Gcanga | PhD student |
| Zintle Kolo | PhD student |
| Shelby Jones | PhD student |
| Nada Abedelaziz | PhD student |
| Jermaine Khumalo | PhD student |
| Marion Rolot | PhD student |
| Lerato Hlaka | PhD student |
| Jennifer Auret | PhD student |
| Nathan Scott Kieswetter | PhD student |
| Paballo Mosala | PhD student |
| Julius Chia | PhD student |
| Martyna Scibiorek | PhD student |
| Thabo Mpotje | MSc student |
Collaborations:
Collaborations with publications/funding include:
F. Kolbinger, Univ. of Freiburg, Germany; B. Ledermann, Univ. of Zürich, Switzerland; M. Kopf, ETH, Switzerland; M. Kosco-Vilbois, Hoffmann La Roche, Basel, Switzerland; R. Zinkernagel, Univ. of Zürich, Switzerland; J. C. Renauld, Univ. of Brussels, Belgium; P. Nielsen, MPI, Freiburg, Germany; W. Paul, NIH, Bethesda, USA; J. Alexander, Univ. of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK; G. A. Schaub, Univ. of Bochum, Germany; H. Mossmann, MPI, Freiburg, Germany; J.-P. Coutelier, Univ. of Brussels, Belgium; J. DiSanto, Pasteur Institute, Paris, France; A. Satoskar, Univ. of Ohio, USA; R. Locksley, UCSF, USA; G. Alber, Univ. of Leipzig, Germany; A. Duschl, Univ. of Salzburg, Austria; L. Cohn, Univ. of Yale, USA; W. Harnet, Univ. of Glasgow, UK; T. Aebischer, MPI, Berlin, Germany; A. Mountford, Univ. of York, UK; P. De’Baetselier, Univ. of Brussels, Belgium; R. Grencis, Univ. of Manchester, UK; M. Roecken, Univ. of Munich, Germany; A. Hoerauf, Univ. of Hamburg, Germany; K. Erb, Univ. of Wuerzburg, Germany; B. Ryffel, Univ. of Orleans, France; M. B. Markus & J. E. Fincham MRC, South Africa; M. Schwanninger, Germany; S. Gordon, Univ. of Oxford, UK; P. Kaye, London School Hygiene, UK; S. Han, Univ. of Houston, USA; A. Cunningham, Edinborough, UK; M. Kubo, Rieken, Tokyo, Japan; I. Förster, Univ. of Munich, Germany; T. Utermohlen Univ. of Hamburg, Germany; S.A.C. McDonald, Univ. of London, UK; J. Van Snick, Ludwigs Institute, Brussels, Belgium; F. Finkelman, Cincinnatti, USA; D. Erle, UCSF, USA; S. Philips, Univ. of Glasgow, UK; A. Gessner, Univ. of Erlangen, Germany; T. Huenig, Univ. of Wuerzburg, Germany. G. Owens, Univ. of Virginia, USA; V. Bronte, Univ. Roma, Italie; J. Allen, Univ. of Edinburgh, UK; T. Blankenstein, Max-Delbrueck Centre Berlin, Germany; S.M. Collins, Univ. of London , UK; G. Gino, Univ. Roma, Italy; S. Elias, Yale Univ., USA; S. Graefe, Univ. of Hamburg, Germany; K. Haley, Harvard, USA; J. Tepper, USA; E. Kim, USA; A. Kottmann, Columbia Univ., New York, USA; . LaFlamme, Univ. of Wellington, New Zealand; C. Lawrence, Univ. of Strathclyde, UK; T. Maizels, UK; N. Watanabe, Univ. of Tokyo, Japan; M. Rothenberg, Cincinnati, USA; R. Singh, Cincinnati, USA; M. Smyth, Univ. of Melbourne, Australia; G. Waltzl, Univ. of Stellenbosch, South Africa; W. Hide UWC, South Africa; J. Jagi, Univ. of Tokyo, Japan; D. Zipori, Weizmann Institute, Tel Aviv, Israel.
Co-operative research initiatives with industries:
R. Rennick, R. Kastelein, J.D. Sedgwick, DNAX, Palo Alto, USA; M. Bachmann, Cytos Biotechnology AG, Switzerland; S.T. Kanaly, Immunex, USA; A. Kottmann, Psychogenics, New York, USA; K. Teversham, Virogate, South Africa; T. Huenig, TeGenero AG, Wuerzburg, Germany.