PRETORIA - Renowned bioinformatician and infectious disease expert Professor Tulio de Oliveira has been recognised with national honours on Tuesday.
The Stellenbosch University professor was awarded the Order of Mapungubwe. The order recognises South African citizens for achievements that have impacted internationally and have served the interests of South Africa.
The highest honour one can be awarded. De Oliviera was awarded a gold.
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The academic was awarded for his contribution to the discovery of the COVID-19 Omicron variant.
The discovery put South Africa on the international stage with cutting-edge research and a swift response to prevent infection and possible deaths in our country and globally.
De Oliveira is the founder of the KwaZulu-Natal Research Innovation and Sequencing Platform (KRISP). He is also the founder of the Centre for Epidemic Response and Innovation (CERI).
Both organisations assist in the monitoring of emerging pathogens in Africa.
In his work in discovering the Beta and Omicron variants, he was named in Time Magazine's 100 Health List.