Pascal O. Bessong is a virologist, having trained in South Africa, France, and the United States. He is an experienced professor with a demonstrated history of working in the higher education sector for more than 17 years. His research focuses on microbiological investigations for translational science and global health, using innovative approaches and technologies. Specifically, he is interested on viral and human determinants of HIV drug resistance and the sustainability of antiretrovirals towards the UNAIDS 2030 target on viral suppression. He is also interested in the interactions of gut microbiota and antimicrobial resistance, and the interactions of gut infections with growth, cognitive development, and vaccine response in young children. He has more than 15 years of experience in the establishment and maintenance of prospective, community-based birth and adult cohorts for observational biomedical investigations.
A former Head of the Department of Microbiology, University of Venda, he is the Principal Investigator of the AIDS Virus Research Laboratory; Founding Head of the HIV/AIDS & Global Health Research Programme; Visiting Scholar at the School of Medicine, University of Virginia, USA; and Director of the SAMRC-UNIVEN Unit on Antimicrobial Resistance and Global Health Research. Professor Bessong is a C1 rated scientist of the National Research Foundation (2017); an elected member of the Academy of Science of South Africa; a Registered Natural Professional Scientist; and Associate Editor of the South African Journal of Science (Cell, molecular biology, and Health). He maintains a website and blog at https://bessongthemicrobiologist.com
Professor Bessong’s has published his scientific contributions and opinions in top tier and influential journals such as Science, The Lancet HIV, PLOS Medicine, Lancet Global Health, Clinical Infectious Diseases, BMJ Global Health, The Journal of Infectious Diseases, EBiomedicine, and Bulletin of the World Health Organization. He has hosted visiting scientists on antimicrobial resistance within the framework of the Carnegie African Diaspora Fellowship awards, and the US National Science Foundation fellowships. He has given research seminars at institutions in South Africa, Botswana, Cameroon, Kenya, Nigeria, and the United States. Professor Bessong has successfully trained more than 60 MSc/PhD students and postdoctoral fellows.
Rating: C1
Rating category: Established researcher
Research Specialization: HIV – Drug Resistance, HIV Genetic Diversity, HIV Molecular Genetics, HIV 99and AIDS Global Health, O1Opportunistic Infections, HIV/AIDS, Global Health
Faculty: Science, Engineering and Agriculture
Professor Bessong’s research profile can be viewed at:
Orcid: Pascal Bessong (0000-0003-0561-272X) – ORCID
Google scholar: Pascal O. Bessong, PhD, mASSAf – Google Scholar
ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Pascal-Bessong
PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=bessong
Contact:
Tel: 015 962 8301
Email: bessong@univen.ac.za
