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Associate Professor Nelita du Plessis
Senior Scientist | Head: Innate Immunity Lab
Contact Info
Tel: +27 21 938 9972
Email: nelita@sun.ac.za
Education
BSc
Hons (Molecular Genetics)
MSc (Human Genetics)
PhD (Biomedical Sciences)

I am an infectious disease immunologist at the Stellenbosch University Immunology Research Group, heading the Innate Immunity lab. I completed my undergraduate studies and obtained a Hons B.Sc (Molecular Genetics) and M.Sc (Human Genetics) degrees from Stellenbosch University and a PhD in Biomedical Sciences in 2012. For the past 11 years I have been developing a program in innate immunity in the context of Tuberculosis (TB) and helminth infections, particularly the impact of regulatory myeloid cells (RMC), such as myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSC), on host immunity. My research focuses on developing myeloid-targeted host-directed therapies for TB; host immune responses at the lung infection site of people with-/without- TB exposure or disease; and optimization of biomimetic technologies for 3D TB infection models. The goal is to integrate cellular, transcriptomic and epigenetic technologies to unravel mechanisms of innate immune susceptibility and protection in TB.​ I am an NRF rated scientist and an ECTP Career Development Fellow (CDF-1546) for investigating the functional effect of small-molecule targets on MDSC function and phenotype in TB. I am also co-site PI on the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) funded contract “Immune Mechanism of Protection Against Mycobacterium Tuberculosis Center (IMPAc-TB) (Cascade study- K. Urdahl)" and the NIH funded studies “Lung Resident, MR1-Restricted T-Cells: Association with Differential Outcomes Following Exposure to M. tuberculosis - D. Lewinsohn" and “T cell recognition of the MR1 presented microbial metabolome - E. Adams".​

Selected publications: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/10gIfdAubLWkO/bibliography/public/