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IDORI Staff

Robert Breiman

Interim Director of the new Infectious Diseases and Oncology Research Institute (IDORI) at Wits

Dr Robert Breiman is the Interim Director of the new Infectious Diseases and Oncology Research Institute (IDORI) at Wits. Before joining Wits, Rob was the Director of the Emory University Global Health Institute and he was the overall PI for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Caz McNamara

Senior Program Manager of IDORI

Caz McNamara is the Senior Program Manager of IDORI. She holds a Masters degree in Biochemistry from Rhodes University, and has more recently graduated cum laude with a Postgraduate Diploma in Research Management and Administration from Stellenbosch University.

Refiloe Mashigo

Research Administrator at IDORI

Ms Refiloe Mashigo is the Research Administrator at IDORI. She holds a BCom in Economics from the University of South Africa (UNISA). She has worked previously as a Finance Administrator at the Wits Health Consortium and has previous experience in social media and events coordination.

IDORI Researchers

Abdullah Ely

Dr Ely is a group leader in the Wits/SAMRC Antiviral Gene Therapy Research Unit (AGTRU). During his doctoral training he explored the use of the RNA interference pathway for the inhibition of the hepatitis B virus (HBV).

Betty Maepa

Dr Maepa holds a PhD in microbial molecular biology from University of the Witwatersrand. She is currently a senior lecturer in the department of Molecular Medicine and Hematology.

Caroline Tiemessen

Caroline Tiemessen heads the Cell Biology Research Laboratory within the Centre for HIV and STIs at the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD).

Cheryl Cohen

Dr Cohen is Professor in epidemiology at the University of the Witwatersrand and Heads the Centre for Respiratory Disease and Meningitis at the National Institute for Communicable Diseases in South Africa.

Chris Mathew

Prof. Matthew obtained his BSc(Hons) in South Africa and his PhD from the Institute of Cancer Research, London. His main research interests are the discovery of genes involved in the development of cancer in populations of African ancestry.

Christina Thobakgale

She is a Senior Researcher at the School of Pathology. Her work focuses on understanding cellular and viral factors that predispose individuals to HIV disease severity in infected infants and adults.

Christopher Ealand

Dr Ealand completed his PhD on seaweed genetics at the University of Cape Town and returned to Wits University to pursue mycobacterial research as a Post-doctoral fellow.

Deirdré Kruger

Dr Kruger is an Associate Professor and Head of Research & Laboratories in the Wits Department of Surgery and a NRF-C2 rated scientist.

Mandeep Kaur

Prof. Kaur's research focuses on understanding the molecular basis of cancer by utilizing cell biology, bioinformatics, and molecular biology-based methods to identify new biomarkers.

Michéle Ramsay

Prof. Ramsay is a professor in the Division of Human Genetics at the National Health Laboratory Service, Director of the Sydney Brenner Institute for Molecular Bioscience, and South African Research Chair.

Naaziyah Abdulla

Naayizah, a PhD candidate, driven by a keen passion to understand the molecular underpinnings that drive cancer, is currently pursuing a PhD degree in the Integrative Cancer Biology Research Laboratory.

Natalie Irwin

Dr Irwin is a consultant Medical Oncologist at Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital. She obtained her undergraduate MBBCh degree at the University of the Witwatersrand in 2011.

Penny Moore

Prof. Moore is Academic Head: Divisions of Virology and Immunology, University of the Witwatersrand and Director: SA MRC Antibody Immunity Research Unit.

Stephen Tollman

Prof. Tollman is a Research Professor in the School of Public Health at Wits University. He is also a Director at MRC/Wits Rural Public Health & Health Transitions Research Unit (Agincourt).

Thandeka Moyo-Gwete

Dr Moyo-Gwete is a Senior Medical Scientist at the National Institute for Communicable Diseases.

Thesla Palanee-Phillips

Prof. Palanee-Phillips is the Director of Clinical Trials at Wits RHI. In this role, she has spearheaded a laboratory expansion initiative that now includes flow cytometry and GeneXpert.

Yahya Choonara

Prof. Choonara is internationally recognised as an outstanding global Pharmaceutical Scientist working at the forefront of producing life-saving medicines.

Ziyaad Dangor

Associate Professor Dangor is the clinical research director at the world-renowned Medical Research Council, Vaccines and Infectious Diseases Analytics Research Unit (VIDA).

IDORI Visiting Researchers

Tristan Scott	Kariuki Njenga

Tristan Scott is an Assistant Research Professor at the City of Hope, USA. He has extensive experience in RNA-guided technologies including RNAi and CRISPR/Cas technology for gene therapy applications towards infectious agents (HIV, HBV and SARS-CoV-2), cancer and hereditary diseases.

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