The NIOH has an established research record of more than 50 years. Historically, our research focused on mineral particles and the health of miners; the focus has since expanded to include diverse topics and research programmes.

The vision of the NIOH is to be a nationally and internationally recognised centre of excellence for occupational health, in line with national, regional and global needs. To achieve this, the NIOH not only continues its research in the traditional focus areas of mining and particle toxicity and the pathology database (PATHAUT), but is constantly adding new, exciting research projects to our focus areas. Research conducted at the NIOH now includes multi-disciplinary and multi-institutional collaborative projects, many with international partners and extensive funding from national and international funding agencies.

As part of the international silicosis elimination programme, the NIOH is currently participating in a number of global and national research projects aimed at eliminating silica based diseases in South and southern Africa. A study was recently undertaken to investigate the attitudes and perceptions of mine managers and supervisors relating to dust control and silicosis with the aim of providing training for mine health and safety representatives to reduce the dust levels and the burden of silicosis in the mining industry. In addition, the notion that crystalline silica is not a single entity, the toxicity of dust collected from different gold mines was investigated together with the anti-inflammatory properties of various South African herbal remedies against silica-induced oxidative stress.

Diverse methodologies can be employed to study toxicological changes induced by occupational and environmental agents. At the NIOH, technologies that assess damage to DNA, evaluate apoptotic or necrotic cell death, study alteration in gene expression profiles and evaluate surface properties of particles are employed in research projects. These projects are undertaken to validate biomarkers for the assessment of effects of silica exposure, to assess DNA damage and repair capacity in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus and silicosis, and to investigate the mechanisms leading to increased susceptibility of silicotic patients to Mycobacterium tuberculosis infections.

Reproductive health is an important research focus areas in occupational health. The NIOH has designed a study to address the lack of information on reproductive rates, including adverse reproductive outcomes, and the effect of some occupational and environmental exposures on these outcomes.

The NIOH recognises the enormous impact HIV/AIDS has on occupational health and has made a commitment to support research on the direct and indirect effects of HIV on occupational health and safety. As part of this initiative, a major study of HIV seroconversion and the subsequent occupational health and safety effects in a cohort of nearly 8000 miners is under way.

As an indirect consequence of the high level of HIV/AIDS in our workforce, infectious diseases, including tuberculosis, are on the increase. Two projects were recently added to the research agenda of the NIOH. The first focuses on the measurement of airborne Mycobacterium tuberculosis and the second deals with waterborne, amoeba-resistant respiratory pathogens.

Occupational asthma has an enormous impact on the health of the South African workforce. With this in mind, two research projects were recently conducted in public sector dental schools around South Africa to address the health risks of exposure to endotoxins and latex aero-allergens.

To fulfil our role as a centre of excellence, the NIOH will in years to come, continue to do research on both traditional and emerging issues challenging occupational health, for the benefit of workers and stakeholders both locally and in the southern African region.