Draft Programme

Sunday 19 September 2027
10:00-17:30 Registration
17:30-18:00 Official opening
18:00-19:00 Jubilee Lecture – Emmanuelle Charpentier
19:00-20:15 Welcome reception
Monday 20 September 2027
07:30-08:30 Registration & welcome refreshments
08:30-09:15 Plenary lecture
09:15-10:00 Plenary lecture
10:00-10:30 Coffee/ Poster viewing
10:30-12:00 Bioinformatics, Computational Biology and Systems Biology Structural Biology and Biophysics (supported by IUPAB) Infectious and Parasitic Diseases Development, Stem Cells and Cancer Chromosomal dynamics, Gene Regulation and Expression
12:00-13:00 Poster presentations
13:00-14:00 Networking & career discovery for early career attendees
13:00-14:00 Lunch
14:00-15:30 Molecular Basis of Disease Prevention, Management and Treatment of Disease and Infection Bioprospecting: Natural Products and Phytomedicine Biotechnology and Synthetic Biology in the ciruclar bioeconomy Chemical Biology & Drug Discovery
15:45-17:30 Posters in the spotlight (33 x 3 min presentations)
17:35-20:30 IUBMB General assembly
Tuesday 21 September 2027
07:30-08:30 Meet the professionals breakfast
08:30-09:15 Plenary lecture
09:15-10:00 Plenary lecture
10:00-10:30 Coffee/ Poster viewing
10:30-12:00 Biotechnology and Synthetic Biology in the circular bioeconomy Prevention, Management and Treatment of Disease and Infection Bioprospecting: Natural Products and Phytomedicine Education Paradigm Shifts: Personalised Learning & Technology Integration Molecular Basis of Disease
12:00-13:00 Poster presentations
13:00-14:00 Networking & career discovery for early career attendees
13:00-14:00 Lunch
14:00-15:30 Development, Stem Cells and Cancer Bioinformatics, Computational Biology and Systems Biology Chromosomal Dynamics, Gene Regulation and Expression Education Paradigm Shifts: Personalised Learning & Technology Integration Infectious and Parasitic Diseases
15:45-17:30 Posters in the spotlight (33 x 3 min presentations)
17:30-18:30 FASBMB General Assembly
18:30-19:00 SASBMB Silver Award lecture
19:00-20:00 SASBMB General Assembly
Wednesday 22 September 2027
07:30-08:30 Meet the professionals breakfast
08:30-09:15 Plenary lecture
09:15-10:00 Plenary lecture
10:00-10:30 Coffee/ Poster viewing
10:30-11:45 African Solutions to African Challenges in the Medical and Health Sciences
11:45-12:30 SASBMB Gold Award lecture
12:30-13:30 Poster presentations
12:30-13:30 Lunch
13:30-14:30 Paradigm shifts and ground-breaking Technologies in Molecular Biology
14:30-16:00 Structural Biology and Biophysics (supported by IUPAB) Chemical Biology & drug Discovery Chromosomal Dynamics, Gene Regulation and Expression Biotechnology and Synthetic Biology in the circular bioeconomy Bioinformatics, Computational Biology and Systems Biology
16:15-17:15 Posters in the spotlight (20 x 3 min presentations)
19:00-23:00 Conference Gala Dinner
Thursday 23 September 2027
07:30-08:30 Meet the professionals breakfast
08:30-09:15 Plenary lecture
09:15-10:15 From Translational Research to Biotechnology Start Ups
10:15-11:15 Poster presentations/Coffee
11:15-12:45 Structural Biology and Biophysics (supported by IUPAB) Chemical Biology & Drug Discovery Bioprospecting: Natural products and phytomedicine Infectious and Parasitic Diseases Molecular Basis of Diseases
12:45-13:45 Networking & career discovery for early career attendees
12:45-13:45 Lunch
14:00-14:45 Closing Talk (plenary lecture)
14:45-15:15 Poster prizes & Closing remarks

Paul Kappo
Prof Abidemi Paul Kappo is a full Professor of Biochemistry and Group Leader of the Molecular Biophysics and Structural Biology Group at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa. He is a structural biologist with over 25 years of academic research experience. He obtained his PhD from the University of the Western Cape, Bellville, South Africa, by determining the structure of the RING finger domain of the splicing-associated protein, RBBP6, using heteronuclear NMR spectroscopy. His research focuses on applying structural biology and structural bioinformatics techniques to discover and design new/novel biopharmaceuticals against infectious diseases. Additionally, dissecting the nexus between schistosomiasis and other infectious diseases for biotherapeutics, as well as schistosomiasis and cancer for vaccinomics, using molecular biophysics techniques and biomathematics, has been at the forefront of his research lately. He is a rated researcher by the National Research Foundation (NRF) of South Africa, has published widely on infectious diseases, and has graduated several MSc and PhD students. His research has been primarily funded in the past generously by the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) and, lately, by the National Research Foundation of South Africa (NRF). Prof Kappo is highly skilled in scientific organization and advocacy, having served as the President of the South African Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (SASBMB) for two terms (2018-2022) and is presently the Vice-President of the Federation of African Societies of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (FASBMB) since 2022. He is a visiting scientist at the Department of Biochemistry, Lagos State University (LASU), and holds an adjunct Research Professorship with the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR), Lagos, Nigeria.

Monique Williams
Designation: Senior lecturer
My research is focused on studying the physiology of mycobacteria, with a specific interest in biosynthetic pathways that are required by the bacteria during infection. Pathways of interest include molydopterin co-factor biosynthesis, ergothioneine biosynthesis and iron-sulphur cluster biogenesis.

Karl Storbeck
Karl Storbeck (PhD) is an Associate Professor at the Department of Biochemistry, Stellenbosch University and a Visiting Senior Research Fellow at the MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences, UK. He obtained his PhD in Biochemistry (SU) in 2008 and was appointed to Faculty in 2012. His research is focused on investigating the biosynthesis and metabolism of steroid hormones with a particular focus of understanding the role of 11-oxygenated androgens in health and disease.

Theresa Coetzer
Professor Theresa Coetzer (University of KwaZulu-Natal) received her PhD in Biochemistry from the former University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. She was a J William Fulbright Fellow at the Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA in 1995 and is a former President of the South African Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (SASBMB). Her research focusses on proteolytic enzymes as diagnostic and drug targets in African parasitic diseases: mainly animal and human trypanosomiasis (nagana and sleeping sickness) and also trichinellosis and theileriosis. Her research expertise encompasses protein/protease isolation and characterisation, and immunochemical techniques, including chicken egg yolk antibody (IgY) production against peptide epitopes and proteins.

Addmore Shonhai
Addmore Shonhai is Professor of Biochemistry based at the University of Venda in South Africa. His research involves understanding the role of heat shock proteins in the development infectious agents. Another area of interest involves using heat shock proteins as biotechnological tools to enhance recombinant protein production in E. coli. He is a current council member of the South African Society of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology (SASBMB). He is a recipient of a prestigious Georg Foster Fellowship, awarded to him by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation of Germany. He is life-time member of the Cell Stress International Society.

Francois van der Westhuizen
Francois started his academic career in 1993 as junior lecturer and is currently Professor of Biochemistry and the Deputy Dean (Research and Innovation) at the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences at the North-West University (NWU). His teaching expertise has been enzymology, molecular biology and bioenergetics. After receiving his PhD in 1998, his research focus narrowed to mitochondrial disease. Since 2002 he helped establish the Mitochondria Research Group at the NWU, which focusses on mitochondrial- and other neuromuscular diseases in SA, as well as research on bioenergetics and mtDNA and their role in health and disease.

Jo-Anne de la Mare
Prof Jo-Anne de la Mare is a Senior Lecturer and Head of the Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology and Bioinformatics at Rhodes University and President of the South African Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. As the Principal Investigator of the Female Cancers Research at Rhodes University (FemCR2U) group, her research focuses on preclinical drug discovery for female cancers including triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) and cervical cancer. In addition, the development of drug resistance models for triple negative breast cancer and cervical cancer cell lines from South African women is geared towards developing more relevant disease models for the African context.

Ed Sturrock
Ed Sturrock is a full professor in the Department of Integrative Biomedical Sciences and a founding member of the Institute of Infectious Diseases and Molecular Medicine (IDM) at the University of Cape Town. He received his PhD in 1994 and went on to do a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard Medical School where he started his research on angiotensin-converting enzyme. In 2003 he was awarded a Wellcome Trust International Senior Research Fellowship. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of South Africa and the University of Cape Town, a member of the Academy of Science of South Africa, has a National Research Foundation A2 rating, and is a recipient of the South African Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Gold Award. He has published over 130 papers in peer-reviewed international journals and five granted patents.

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