Our WONDER WOMEN in SCIENCE UNDER OUR MICROSCOPE
PROF ARMANDA BASTOS, head of the Department of Zoology and Entomology at the University of Pretoria
Why we think she’s brilliant:
On her first field trip to the Kruger National Park as a veterinary researcher, Prof Bastos was part of the research team involved in the encephalomyocarditis virus vaccine trial in African elephants. She’s since spent most of her career using a molecular approach to determine the origin, persistence and spread of diseases of animal and public health concern. Her research generates data to improve both diagnosis and vaccine protocols that will be most effective against new strains of disease. She believes that if the risks and causes of disease transmission are understood, we’d be more likely to develop the strategies we need to balance human needs with the needs of other species, leading to a more harmonious co-existence. She’s worked extensively on foot-and-mouth disease and African swine fever, for example – both diseases that can wreak economic havoc when trade bans are introduced. Her work is hugely important, not only
