Historic Agreement with Stellenbosch University, UW–Madison’s Global Health Institute and Department of Biochemistry

Osorio, de Oliveira, and Fox take a group photo.

The multidisciplinary partnership will advance academic exchanges and address global health innovation and communication

Following Tulio de Oliveira‘s visit to UW–Madison in July, where he led Steenbock Lectures hosted by the Department of Biochemistry (Biochemistry) and the Global Health Institute (GHI), an agreement has been signed between UW–Madison and Stellenbosch University, located near Cape Town, South Africa.

Stellenbosch University is a hub of research innovation on the African continent. The Centre for Epidemic Response and Innovation (CERI) at Stellenbosch, directed by TIME100 Health honoree Tulio de Oliveira, is known around the world for its instrumental role in developing a global health network to share real-time surveillance of emerging and infectious diseases, including COVID-19.

“I was truly impressed with the quality of the facilities and scientists that I met at UW–Madison,” said de Oliveira. “I saw excellence in many disciplines and as soon as I returned to Stellenbosch University, I went to meet with the Rector/Provost who is now coming to visit UW–Madison in Sept. 2024 to increase collaboration between the two institutions.”

GHI and Biochemistry have been developing a relationship with Stellenbosch University for quite some time, including visits to the South African campus with the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF). The visit and ongoing conversations sparked ideas for collaboration which led to this formalized partnership, marking the beginning of academic exchanges between the two public universities, as well as continued, proactive network building to advance global health innovation and communication.

“This agreement is the product of many discussions with respected researchers and leaders from two world-class universities who see the power of collaboration to advance global health networks,” said Jorge Osorio, director of the Global Health Institute. “From WARF’s initial invite to visit South Africa, to discovering shared goals with the Department of Biochemistry, this partnership underscores the value of a multidisciplinary approach that leverages UW–Madison’s capabilities and expands the Wisconsin Idea across all 21 colleges on campus, as well as the world, to address one health issues and provide students with academic exchanges.”

Group photo, posed, of representatives from various institutes, agencies, and universities.
Representatives from UW–Madison, WARF, Stellenbosch University, and SAMRC met on the Stellenbosch University campus in spring 2023. Front row: GHI Director Jorge Osorio; WARF CEO Erik Iverson; Stellenbosch University Rector & Vice-Chancellor, Professor Wim de Villiers, Professor Francesco Petruccione (Quantum Computing and Interim Director, National Institute for Theoretical and Computational Sciences). Back row: SAMRC Director of International Business Development Richard Gordon; Stellenbosch University Professor Kanshu Rajaratnam (Director, School of Data Science), Stellenbosch University Director of Fundraising David Marupen; CERI Director Tulio de Oliveira. Photo courtesy of Jorge Osorio.

The UW-Stellenbosch agreement focuses on three areas of multidisciplinary collaboration:

  • Educational opportunities for joint curriculum and student and faculty exchanges.
  • Establishment of the One Health Program, which offers opportunities for working closely with local communities and sharing scientific capabilities and resources in global health, data sciences, data ecosystems, digital and precision agriculture, dairy science, agroecology, virology, anti-microbial and anti-fungal resistance, artificial intelligence, metabolic disease, and vaccines and development.
  • Translational science and outreach, where both universities will identify appropriate alliances with industry, public and private entities, and organize seminars on capacity-building.

The agreement also marks the beginning of a GHI One Health Program in South Africa. GHI currently has One Health Centers and projects in Colombia, India, Mexico, Sierra Leone and Rwanda.

This academic exchange facilitated through the UW-Stellenbosch agreement will bring Richard Gordon, director of international business development, South African Medical Research Council, and an independent contractor to Stellenbosch University to UW–Madison this fall. Gordon will bring his experience to the Department of Biochemistry to identify topical areas and persons to develop research and teaching partnerships, which bring together the strengths and shared interests of the two universities.

In this group photo, taken in the Global Health Institute's office space at UW–Madison, everyone is forming their hands into a University of Wisconsin–Madison "W".
GHI leadership and staff and Richard Gordon make the classic UW–Madison ‘W’ during Gordon’s 2023 visit to campus. From left: John Chan, Jorge Osorio, Katie Newcomb, Richard Gordon, and Calyn Ostrowski. Photo by UW–Madison GHI.

The opportunity for faculty and students to work with dynamic and innovative researchers at Stellenbosch University and CERI, means collaborating with de Oliveira’s team who discovered the Omicron and Beta variants of Covid-19. The CERI team was also instrumental in developing a global health network within South Africa to share real-time surveillance of emerging and infectious diseases. CERI is one of the 22 sites within the Abbott Pandemic Defense Coalition, as are the GHI One Health Center-Colombia and GHI One Health Center-West Africa, thus strengthening the surveillance network for emerging and infectious diseases.

“This is an exciting opportunity to develop impactful interactions across realms of academic research and teaching excellence. It is our hope these efforts will have positive impact on the great challenges facing humanity by bringing the efforts, expertise, and inspiration of two great universities to bear on these challenges,” said Brian Fox, chair of the Department of Biochemistry.

This historic and transdisciplinary partnership between UW–Madison and Stellenbosch University illustrates the two universities’ commitment to solving global health challenges; bringing researchers and stakeholders from different backgrounds and experiences to the table to share ideas tackling global health challenges; and is a prime example the Wisconsin Idea — where the boundaries of campus are the boundaries of the state and beyond.

Written by Katie Newcomb, GHI Communications Director, and Catherine Steffel, Biochemistry Communications Manager.

Featured image, from left: Jorge Osorio, Tulio de Oliveira, Biochemistry Department Chair Brian Fox. Photo by Paul Escalante / UW–Madison Biochemistry.