South African lecturer wins $780,000 TB grant

A young immunology lecturer at the University of Cape Town has won an international five-year grant to study tuberculosis granulomas, a hallmark of TB infection.

Mohlopheni Marakalala will receive £600,000 (US$780,000 or about R10m) from the Wellcome Trust, a UK medical charity, to investigate whether granulomas can inform treatment or predict disease progression. Granulomas occur when immune cells try to encase foreign bodies or germs that they cannot eliminate.