Research focus: My current research focuses on the Immunology of Infectious and Non-communicable diseases Co-morbidity. I am interested in defining the impact of obesity/diabetes on Mycobacterium tuberculosis-specific immune responses through the characterization of phenotypic and functional markers using multi-parameter flow cytometry. I am also interested in metabolic parameters in Infectious and Non-communicable diseases Co-morbidity.

Biography:

I completed my BSc, BSc (Hons) and MSc degrees at the University of Venda. I then moved to Stellenbosch University where I completed my PhD in Molecular Biology under the supervision of Prof. Novel N Chegou and Prof. Gehard Walzl. Upon my PhD completion, I trained as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Wellcome Centre for Infectious Diseases Research in Africa (CIDRI-Africa) at the University of Cape Town under the guidance of Dr Catherine Riou. Before joining BRIP, I was employed as a Scientific officer at Hutchinson Centre Research Institute of South Africa (HCRISA), Cape Town HVTN Immunology Laboratory (CHIL). I a regular reviewer for many international journals and I review abstracts for conference proceedings and other applications as required.