Mark E Engel 20th Lancefield International Symposium on Streptococci and Streptococcal Diseases 2017

Mark E Engel

Mark E. Engel was born in Cape Town, South Africa, holds a BSc (MED) Hons [Human Genetics], an MPH [Epidemiology and Biostatistics] and a PhD which he obtained in 2013, all from the University of Cape Town (UCT). He worked initially as a laboratory scientist in Pathology at Red Cross Children’s Hospital during which time he undertook training in molecular methods and epidemiology in the UK and USA respectively. Appointed as an Associate Professor within the Medicine Department at UCT, Mark's research include all aspects of rheumatic heart disease (RHD), employing a wide range of investigative approaches, from molecular to population-based research, in efforts to improve the understanding of this poverty-related heart disease. Recently, he established the AFROStrep Research Initiative, Africa's first registry and biorepository for Group A Streptococcus (GAS), the organism involved in RHD development, to document the occurrence and strain of infection, and to provide a platform for training and research across the continent. Dr Engel regularly lectures undergraduate and postgraduate students in epidemiology and research methods, and has supervised a number of postgraduate degree dissertations. He was awarded the National Research Foundation’s Research Excellence Award for Early Career / Emerging Researchers in 2016.