Gauteng Health on Nuclear Medicine Research Infrastructure (NuMeRI) facility at Steve Biko Academic Hospital
8 March 2024
The Nuclear Medicine Research Infrastructure (NuMeRI) centre housed at the Steve Biko Academic Hospital (SBAH) in Pretoria has propelled the healthcare facility into a league of its own in the area of nuclear medicine and research in Africa.
The half a billion rand NuMeRI facility is part of the Department of Science and Technology’s South African Research Infrastructure Roadmap (SARIR) and is a one-stop-shop medical nuclear imaging and theragnostic facility dedicated to drug development and clinical research for the benefit of the South African, African and global health care sector. In addition, local drug researchers, medical practitioners, and international collaborators will also benefit from NuMeRI.
The facility’s main purpose is to facilitate research, innovation and value generation in areas of country and region-specific health challenges. Some of the functions that the NuMeRI centre will offer include clinical unit, radiopharmacy, basic and translational research, preclinical imaging, node of infection imaging and medical physics and radiobiology unit.
Professor Mike Sathekge said the futuristic infrastructure will help improve the quality of life and extend the lifespan and overall survival of cancer patients using radiopharmaceuticals. “We are currently in a position to do clinical trials that will help us develop and have access to new treatment for conditions that are difficult to treat.”