Page 52 - SAMRC Annual Performance Plan 2026-27

PART B: SAMRC STRATEGIC FOCUS
continued

Table 14. SAMRC Extramural Research Units’ purpose continued

EXTRAMURAL RESEARCH UNITS
Unit Strategic Focus
Genomics of Brain Disorders To identify genomic biomarkers, using a systems biology approach, for a host of
Research Unit brain disorders (e.g., posttraumatic stress disorder, HIV associated neurocognitive
disorders, foetal alcohol spectrum disorders, schizophrenia and psychosis spectrum
disorders, and Parkinson’s Disease) across the lifespans.

Health Services to Systems To focus on the mechanisms and processes through which health interventions
Research Unit become integrated into routine institutional environment (“real world settings”) and
achieve sustainable coverage and impacts at scale.
Herbal Drugs Research Unit To conduct technologically advanced scientific research, and to make basic
knowledge readily available to stakeholders, in order to promote the quality, safety
and efficacy (QSE) of herbal medicines.
HIV/TB Pathogenesis and To undertake research to reduce morbidity and mortality from HIV-TB co-infection.
Treatment Research Unit This Unit addresses the leading cause of death in HIV infected patients, in a setting
where HIV infection is the largest single contributor to South Africa’s mortality burden.
Hypertension and To contribute to new clinical and epidemiological knowledge within the field of
Cardiovascular Disease hypertension development in black populations, in order to facilitate more effective
Research Unit awareness, treatment and prevention programmes in the future.
Intersection of To enhance the understanding and management of the interaction between
Noncommunicable Disease and endemic infections (SARS-CoV-2, HIV, tuberculosis) and NCDs (heart failure,
Infectious Diseases Research hypertension, diabetes mellitus, obesity, cancer, mental health).
Unit
Microbial Water Quality To address the myriad of challenges in the Eastern Cape Province water sector
Monitoring Research Unit within the overarching aim that seeks to evaluate some of the key emerging
challenges in microbial water quality and safety, as a vehicle for skills and capacity
development in water science especially amongst the previously disadvantages
demographic groups in the Eastern Cape Province.
Pan African Centre for To improve the understanding of current pandemics through cutting-edge Pan
Epidemics Research Unit African and global research epidemiological, and public health studies among
marginalized populations in diverse low-resource settings in South Africa, Sub-
Saharan Africa and globally.
Platform for Pharmacogenomics To identify inherited genetic variations, epigenetic changes and microbial profiles
Research and Translation that are associated with interindividual differences in the ways patients respond to
Research Unit therapeutic treatment including herbal medicine, a field commonly referred to as
Pharmacogenomics.
Precision Oncology Research To map the landscape of cervical and oesophageal cancer in order to understand
Unit the underlying causes of these cancers and to discover targets for the development
of novel and more effective targeted therapeutics. Key focus areas are to identify
and comprehensively characterise the potential common and country-specific risk
factors underlying high cervical and oesophageal cancer incidences and mortality
rates in South Africa, Tanzania and BRICS countries.
Risk and Resilience in Mental To undertake research that encompasses the promotion of clinical research and the
Disorders Research Unit translation of basic science into clinical research, to improve diagnosis, prevention
and management of mental disorders in South Africa with a focus on risk and
resilience factors as they apply to key conditions in the local context, as well as the
translation of clinical evidence into population-level interventions to improve mental
health through primary health care and community initiatives that can be applied
in diverse settings across the country and the continent, with a focus on priority
illnesses given the local burden of disease.

50 SAMRC ANNUAL PERFORMANCE PLAN 2026/27