I am a clinician scientist, Executive Head of the Department of Biomedical Sciences, Head of the Division of Molecular Biology and Human Genetics, and head of the Stellenbosch University Immunology Research Group (SUN-IRG). My clinical training was in the fields of internal medicine, pulmonology and intensive care medicine while my research focuses on the immunology of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) infection and in particular host biomarkers, including diagnostic markers, markers of TB treatment response and markers of protective immunity against MTB. Our research spans the divide between clinical and fundamental (laboratory) sciences in a high TB prevalence area. The SUN-IRG is part of several international consortia and we conduct recruitment of large cohorts of participants with well characterized MTB infection and disease phenotypes to search for biomarkers of TB by using advanced immunological and molecular biology techniques. Our laboratory is ISO15189 accredited as TB immunology laboratory by the South African laboratory accreditation authority (SANAS).

Our research has identified promising tuberculosis diagnostic, treatment response and protective immunity biomarkers and we are actively working on the development of field-friendly assays that incorporate these host markers and that can potentially change the management of the TB epidemic.