How research can help overcome these barriers will be the focus of the 38th lecture in the University of Pretoria’s (UP) Expert Lecture Series, presented by Professor Lyn-Marié Birkholtz on Tuesday, 20 October 2026.
The lecture, titled ‘Breaking barriers to malaria elimination: Transdisciplinary research in action to deliver health innovations against malaria’, will take place at 6pm at Future Africa on the University of Pretoria’s Hillcrest Campus.
As global health priorities emphasise pandemic preparedness, Prof Birkholtz’s lecture will make the case for proactive efforts to confront diseases that have yet to be eliminated.
“Among the infectious diseases plaguing the African continent, none has posed a greater challenge to elimination than malaria, with drug resistance and climate-driven changes in transmission demanding sustained, innovative science,” she writes in her lecture abstract. “This lecture will argue that malaria elimination is both an urgent imperative and a blueprint for health security.”
The lecture will explore a transdisciplinary approach that targets humans, mosquito vectors, and the disease-causing parasite itself. It will showcase innovations that reveal parasite vulnerabilities and examine how this fundamental understanding can be translated into research with impact, delivering the next generation of antimalarial treatments.
Prof Birkholtz is a full professor of Biochemistry and director of the SARChI Chair in Sustainable Malaria Control at UP. She leads the Parasite Cluster of the University’s Institute for Sustainable Malaria Control, an MRC Collaborative Centre for Malaria Research.
Since establishing her research group at UP in 2006, she has built a programme that integrates fundamental parasite biology with translational drug discovery.
Her research focuses on the physiology, biochemistry, and pharmacology of Plasmodium falciparum, identifying distinctions between the parasite and its human host that can be targeted by drugs. A particular focus is transmission-blocking antimalarials targeting gametocyte biology.
Her laboratory serves as a Global Testing Centre for the Medicines for Malaria Venture in Switzerland, evaluating stage-specific gametocytocidal compounds for international drug discovery pipelines.
Prof Birkholtz leads a flagship project of the Grand Challenges Africa Drug Discovery Accelerator, funded by the Gates Foundation and LifeArc, and serves on its Operational Leadership Team. She is also a core member of the Malaria Drug Accelerator, a consortium of internationally leading malaria drug discovery groups.
She is co-director of the African Centre for Therapeutics Innovation at Stellenbosch University, a multidisciplinary centre advancing biological innovations for drug discovery in Africa.
Her contributions to malaria elimination include founding and directing a global Community of Practice on Malaria Elimination, spearheading the South African Malaria Transmission-blocking Consortium, and serving as a scientific adviser to the South African Malaria Elimination Committee.
The UP Expert Lecture Series provides a public platform for University researchers to engage with a general audience on significant developments in their fields that are likely to have an impact in the future.
The hour-long upcoming lecture is part of UP’s ongoing effort to showcase cutting-edge research that addresses real-world challenges.
All are welcome.
Join Prof Birkholtz on Tuesday, 20 October 2026, at 6pm at Future Africa, Hillcrest Campus, University of Pretoria.
Click here to register.
