South Africa welcomes first Marie Curie Outgoing International Fellowship awardee

30 January 2007

Prof. Stoycho Stoev of the Thracian University in Bulgaria recently gained a Marie Curie Outgoing International Fellowship for 2 years in the University of Johannesburg (Doornfontein Campus), South Africa. The fellowship project titled: "An expected multicausal nature of spontaneous animal and human nephropathy in Bulgaria and South Africa" is funded by the European Commision under the Sixth Framework Programme (FP6). The Department of Science and Technology South Africa is also co-investmenting in the project.

Prof. Stoev is collaborating with the Food, Environment and Health Research Group (FEHRG) on the role of selected mycotoxins on human and animal health, in particular mycotoxins involved in Balkan endemic nephropathy (BEN). He has strong evidence to suggest that a combination of penicillic acid and ochratoxin A play a role in BEN, as they create similar symptoms in animals. He now wishes to pursue this by producing large amounts of the toxins in feeds for experimentation and to investigate the situation in South Africa from both an animal and human perspective.

Prof. Stoev's fellowship will allow an in depth collaboration and will be of tremendous value to South Africa in terms of understanding kidney and other related diseases in both animals and rural populations.

For enquiries with the host institution please contact Prof Mike Dutton: Head of Food, Environment and Health Research Group at +27 11 406 2661 or mdutton@uj.ac.za.