Vaginal Microbiome Research Consortium for Africa (VMRC4Africa)

Jo-Ann Passmore, Associate Professor of the University of Cape Town in South Africa, will pilot the formation of the vaginal microbiome research consortium in Africa (VMRC4Africa) by establishing a network of researchers and centers of excellence for conducting research and clinical trials to promote women’s health across the continent. Dr. Passmore uses immune biomarkers and microbial-based approaches to study HIV and HPV pathogenesis and prevention in African women. Her work identified genital tract inflammation as a major predictor of HIV risk and pathogenesis, and revealed that inflammation reduces the efficacy of the anti-retroviral drug tenofovir, which is used to treat HIV. Her laboratory is a South African center of excellence in HIV prevention and she is committed to nurture and mentor young African researchers. She will establish the necessary infrastructure for African researchers to document the changing composition of the vaginal microbiota, beginning with South African and Kenyan women. They will use sequencing and build a biorepository to help identify health-promoting <em>Lactobacillus</em>-dominated microbiota in different geographic regions. These could be co-formulated into live biotherapeutic products to treat genital tract inflammation for women globally.