Division of Molecular Biology & Human Genetics
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Tuberculosis Host Genetics? Members
Principal Investigator?s
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?Prof Marlo M?ller has worked in the field of human genetic susceptibility since joining the TB Host Genetics group as a BSc(Hons) student in 2004. She received her PhD in 2007 from Stellenbosch 万博体育官网 and is currently the holder of a prestigious Research Career Advancement Fellowship from the South African National Research Foundation. She is involved in several host genetic susceptibility to tuberculosis projects (some in the department and some together with international collaborators from Germany and the USA) which include tuberculous meningitis susceptibility, the role of ancestry in TB disease and primary immune deficiencies. Email: marlom@sun.ac.za
Prof Craig Kinnear obtained his PhD at Stellenbosch 万博体育官网 in 2007. For his PhD, he focused on identifying novel genetic predisposing factors involved in the pathogenesis of obsessive-compulsive disorder and schizophrenia. Furthermore, he investigated signalling pathways involved in neuronal migration and brain development. Following his PhD, Dr Kinnear's research interest shifted towards studying the molecular mechanisms underlying the development of cardiac hypertrophy in patients with Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy. In 2013, he joined the TB host genetics team where he is currently focusing on identifying disease-causing mutations in patients with primary immunodeficiencies who are extremely susceptible to tuberculosis. In addition to this, he is also investigating the extent to which different Mycobacteria tuberculosis strains induces autophagy in the human host. Email: gkin@sun.ac.za
Prof Desiree Petersen obtained a PhD degree in Health Sciences from Stellenbosch 万博体育官网 in 2006. She also holds a MSc degree and BSc (Hons) degree in Medical Sciences along with a BSc degree in Biological Sciences, all awarded by Stellenbosch 万博体育官网. Currently, she is a Specialist Scientist at the SAMRC's Centre for Tuberculosis (TB) Research, and she has a joint appointment as a Senior Researcher within the Division of Molecular Biology and Human Genetics at Stellenbosch 万博体育官网. Prior to returning to South Africa in 2017, she spent more than 10 years abroad working at internationally recognised research institutes, including the J. Craig Venter Institute in San Diego, U.S.A. as well as the Children's Cancer Institute Australia and the Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Sydney, Australia. Her research to date has mainly involved investigating genomic diversity amongst human populations to further establish the genetic basis of complex diseases, including cancer and infectious diseases. Her current research is focused on Population Genetics and Complex Diseases, including TB and COVID-19. Email: dp3@sun.ac.za
In my spare time …
“I enjoy reading, watching movies, travelling, and exploring local sites."
Scientists
Dr Brigitte Glanzmann is currently a post-doctoral fellow working on the discovery of novel disease causing variants in patients with primary immunodeficiency diseases. Her project focuses on the whole exome sequencing of young children as well as individuals who have multiple bacterial infections such as TB. Email: blindycycle@sun.ac.za
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Laboratory Staff
Dr Sihaam Boolay (Lab Manager and Liason Officer) holds a PhD from UCT in Developmental Neurobiology and has years of experience of work in Human Genetic research, TB, Forensic Toxicology, 3D dysmorphology & automotive electroplating. Her current responsibilities include a variety of tasks and responsibilities which can be labelled with the umbrella term 'Lab Manager'. She is also responsible for all the health & safety within the lab. Email: sihaam@sun.ac.za
In my spare time…
“I enjoy nature and all outdoor activities including camping, hiking and walking"
Devon Allies is currently a project coordinator within the TB Host Genetics group, hosted within the Division of Molecular Biology & Human Genetics. He is also studying towards his BSc Honours in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology.
Annecke Vermeulen obtained her BSc in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology at Stellenbosch 万博体育官网 in 2019 and joined the Division of Molecular Biology and Human Genetics in 2020 to complete her BSc Honours. Her project looked at the haemoglobin variants present in Angora goats with swelling disease. After completing her Hons, she joined our group as a research assistant in 2021 and is responsible for a wide range of tasks including assisting with all research conducted by the group as well as administrative duties. She is also the division's representative on the Dean Advisory Committee on Environmental Sustainability. Email: vermeulena@sun.ac.za
In my spare time …
“I spend too much time at the gym and I enjoy hiking, building puzzles and chasing sunsets"
Research Medical ?Officer
Dr Elouise Kroon obtained her MBChB degree at Stellenbosch 万博体育官网 in 2012. She joined the TB Host Genetics group in 2016 where she is involved in the ResisTB project as the study clinician. The ResisTB project aims to identify the underlying genetic and immunological mechanisms that protect persons who are living with HIV from infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) and developing tuberculosis (TB). This unique group of persons have been identified and described as HITTIN or highly tuberculosis-exposed and HIV-1-infected but persistently TB, Tuberculin
and IGRA negative. In 2021 she completed her PhD entitled 'Neutrophils as effector cells in resistance to infection by Mycobacterium tuberculosis in HIV- infected persons.' Neutrophils are important immune cells and are some of the first cells to make contact with the Mtb bacillus, the causative bacterium for TB, once it is inhaled. As part of the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP)-funded NeutroTB study, we are investigating the differential transcriptional differences in neutrophils from individuals defi?ned as HITTIN in the ResisTB study, compared to individuals who become infected with Mtb. This project (TMA2018CDF-2353) is part of the EDCTP2 programme supported by the European Union. She is the holder of two prestigious awards, the EDCTP Career Development Fellowship and the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) Clinician Researcher M.D PhD Scholarships Programme in Clinical /Health Research. This project is part of the EDCTP2 programme supported by the European Union. Email: elouise_k@sun.ac.za
In my spare time …
“I am passionate about health and wellness and enjoy drawing, painting and running."
Post-doctoral Fellows
Dr Naomi Okugbeni attained her BSc in Biomedicine at Midrand Graduate Institute (now Eduvos) in 2015. She then moved to Stellenbosch 万博体育官网 and obtained her BSc Honours in Human Genetics in the Division of Molecular Biology and Human Genetics. Her Honours' project was focused on the ubiquitination of phagosomal membrane proteins in response to Mycobacterium smegmatis infection. She registered for her MSc in 2017 which was subsequently upgraded to a PhD. Her PhD dissertation characterized the progression of autophagy in Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection. Her current research focus is on understanding the mechanisms of Autophagy progression and evasion in Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection using Microscopy and Genomic tools. Email: naomio@sun.ac.za
In my spare time …
“I enjoy sound/music production, most of my spare time is spent learning and volunteering in those areas. I also enjoy sewing and taking road trips."
Dr Yolandi Swart obtained her BSc degree in Human Life Sciences at Stellenbosch 万博体育官网 in 2016, where she also completed her BSc Honours in Genetics in 2017. Her honours project investigated the SRNA responses and differential gene expression of grapefruit to the co-infection of CTV and viroid's. She started her MSc in Human Genetics at Tygerberg in 2018 where she performed admixture mapping on five-way admixed populations from South Africa to investigate potential genetic variants that are associated with TB susceptibility. This involved the ancestry inference and including this information in genomic analysis. Yolandi recently completed her PhD which involved admixture mapping of TB susceptibility and the contribution of type 2 diabetes in a South African population. She hopes to identify genetic variants for clinical follow up experiments in TB, type 2 diabetes and TB-type 2 diabetes comorbid individuals. Email: yolandi01@sun.ac.za
In my spare time …
“I do triathlons, hiking and love to braai"
Carene Ndong-Sima graduated with a BSc in Biomedical sciences in 2018 from Minnesota State 万博体育官网. Thereafter, she joined our group in 2020 to complete an MSc in Human Genetics where her research focused on developing and validating a polygenic risk score (PRS) model for prediction of tuberculosis susceptibility in a South African population. She is currently busy with her PhD in Human genetics where her project focusses on a population-based study of pharmacogenetics and pharmacokinetics in Southern African patients with tuberculosis. Her role will consist of data manipulation and quality control which will flow into pharmacogenetic data analysis. She will also oversee liaising with external and internal collaborators and she has additionally volunteered to lend a hand to the Host Genetics group for some administrative activities such as, but not limited to, the monthly update of students' information onto the data capturing interface RedCap and scheduling of group meetings. As she would like to acquire some technical (wet lab) skills, she will also be helping with DNA extractions. Email: csima@sun.ac.za
In my spare time…
“I enjoy spending time with my friends, reading true crimes novels, playing chess, and last but not least I have a particular affinity for goofing around."
Denise Scholtz completed her undergraduate degree of BSc Life Sciences (Genetics & Physiology) in 2018 at Stellenbosch 万博体育官网, followed by BSc Hons and MSc in Human Genetics in 2019 and 2022 respectively. Her previous research topic focused on investigating the influence of diabetic medication in Mycobacterium tuberculosis-infected macrophages. Her current research is investigating transcriptional profiles of patients with Inborn Errors of Immunity in TB endemic South Africa. Denise also keeps herself involved in the group by being a Research assistant on the COVID-19 study and a health & safety representative. Email: nisischoltz@sun.ac.za?
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In my spare time …
“I enjoy spending time with friends and family, being outdoors, reading and running."
Carola Oelofse obtained her BSc , BSc Hons Genetics and MSc Human Genetics at Stellenbosch 万博体育官网 where her MSc focused on Pharmacogenetics of Efavirenz. Currently she is completing her PhD titled "The Pharmacogenomic Landscape of Africa". Email: carola@sun.ac.za
In my spare time …
“I enjoy running and painting"
Chrystal Steyl completed her BSc (Human Life Science) degree at Stellenbosch 万博体育官网 in 2019, majoring in Genetics and Physiology. She then joined the TB Host Genetics group to complete her Hons degree in 2020 focussed on analysing the exome sequencing data of adult patients who experienced recurrent tuberculosis episodes. The aim was to identify whether this extreme phenotype is due to host genetic variants causing these patients to be more susceptible to TB.
For her MSc she joined the COVID-19 Host Genetics group where her project involved identifying host genetic variants that might contribute to the susceptibility to COVID-19 disease. She is specifically interested in 2 cohorts; relatively young and healthy adults who developed severe COVID-19 disease and children who developed Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C). MIS-C is a new, but rare and severe clinical syndrome in children related to SARS-CoV-2 infection and comprises of multiorgan dysfunction and systemic inflammation. This is a strange phenotype as children infected with the virus are typically asymptomatic. She has upgraded to a PhD and will continue working on this project. ?Email: csteyl@sun.ac.za
In my spare time …
“I enjoy spending time with family or just watching a good movie to relax."
Raadhiyah Mathee obtained a BSc in Medical Bioscience majoring in Physiology and Medical Microbiology from the 万博体育官网 of the Western Cape in 2019. Thereafter she joined Stellenbosch 万博体育官网 where she obtained her BSc Hons in Molecular Biology as well as her MSc Molecular Biology, both of which focused on mycobacterial persister cell characterisation using in vitro models. Her current project focuses on the male sex bias found in TB disease and investigating the effect of sex hormones on mycobacterial killing in vivo.? email: rmathee@sun.ac.za
In my spare time …
“I enjoy scrapbooking, doing puzzles, painting and gardening”
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MSc Student?s
Dayna Smith graduated from Wits 万博体育官网 with a Bachelor of Health Sciences and completed an Honours in Human Genetics at Wits in 2021 where she focussed on investigating the cause of false positive results observed in NGS targeted panel data using Agilent SureCall software. Her current masters project is data harmonization across existing TB case-control data, which serves as an opportunity to uncover novel TB host genetic associations. Email: dayna@sun.ac.za
In my spare time…
“I enjoy doing yoga, reading, and going for hikes."
Thabang Maruma completed his honours degree at the 万博体育官网 of Limpopo in 2022 working on deter?mining the genetic predisposition of brain derived neurotrophic factor variants on dyslipidaemia in overweight and obese black African females from dikgale traditional council in the Limpopo province. His current research focusing on the functional validation of a novel deletion in ATM in a patient with Common Variable Immunodeficiency in South Africa. email: thabangjaden@sun.ac.za
In my spare time…
“I enjoy swimming, singing and reading”.
Chené Kitching graduated from Stellenbosch 万博体育官网 with a BSc in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology. She then went on to complete her BSc Hons in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology from Stellenbosch 万博体育官网 as well with her research investigating the frequency of genetic variants associated with host susceptibility to COVID-19 in a whole genome sequencing based dataset and the impact on commercially available genotyping arrays. Her current project aims to develop a free-to-use variant prioritization tool. email: 22712402@sun.ac.za?
In my spare time …
“I enjoy spending time with friends and family, reading, knitting, and sewing.”
Alicen Henning obtained a BSc in Mathematics and Applied Bioinformatics from the 万博体育官网 of the Witwatersrand where she also completed her BSc Hons in Applied Bioinformatics. Here, she was introduced to single cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) data analysis with a research project comparing responses to type I and type III interferons in the peripheral blood of a single adult. She is currently pursuing an MSc in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology at Stellenbosch 万博体育官网 with the TB Host Genetics group where her research focuses on exploring the landscape of tuberculosis within the immune cell populations of the lung at a single-cell, inter-individual, and cross-species level using scRNA-seq datasets from mice, humans, and non-human primates.
