Research Interest

My research program at K-RITH is developing microfluidic large scale integration (MLSI) systems to help control the TB and HIV epidemics in South Africa and beyond. Through a series of solution-driven bioengineering projects, K-RITH Bioengineering is developing high throughput research platforms and scalable medical testing systems—microfluidic systems—aimed at providing low-cost, sample-in- answer-out medical testing solutions for TB and HIV disease management.

Our dream is that one day, one healthcare worker will be able to perform the work of 100 or more health workers using the medical systems that we are developing. By lowering the cost of medical tests while and at the same time multiplying the effective number of available healthcare workers, our systems will increase access to better healthcare in poor countries.

In January 2015, we filed a patent for a Microdialyser—a system for mimicking aspects of the human TB growth environment, which is useful for finding drug formulations that are rapidly potent against tubercle bacilli in the human body.

 

Frederick K. Balagaddé

Assistant Investigator

 

  • : +27 31 260 4544, +1 650 924 9252

  • DEPARTMENTKwaZulu-Natal Research Institute for TB and HIV
    Mandela School of Medicine
  • COUNTRYSouth Africa