Ed Rybicki

I have been at UCT since I came to Cape Town on holiday from Zambia in 1974, and fell in love with the place. I obtained a BSc in Chemistry and Microbiology in 1976, an Hons in Virology in 1977, an MSc in Virology in 1979, and a PhD in the same discipline in 1984. I became a Lecturer in Virology in 1981, and have risen through the ranks to become a Professor in Microbiology (in January 2003). I am also a Founder Member of the Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine (IIDMM) based in the Health Sciences Faculty. Since 2011 I have been seconded to act as Academic Liaison to the Research Portal Project, with ICT Services and the Research Office of UCT. TEACHING My undergraduate teaching speciality is Molecular and General Virology, then Molecular Biology Techniques specialising in PCR, with some dabbling on the side in Molecular Immunology. Postgraduate teaching involves seminars on "Viruses as Vectors / Virus Vaccines" and PCR Techniques for Honours. RESEARCH My main research interests are presently in making human and animal vaccine candidates in plants and insect cells: these include vaccines for mucosal Human papillomaviruses (HPV) and Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) subtype C. We also work on characterisation and molecular biology of the parrot Beak and feather disease virus and the possibility of making vaccines and therapeutics for the virus disease. I still have an interest in the diversity of southern African Mastreviruses (family Geminiviridae), the molecular determinants of pathogenicity and host range in these viruses, and especially in Maize streak virus, the use of geminiviruses as vectors of foreign genes in plants, and in the engineering of viral resistance, especially in maize.