Team Members
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The Antiviral Gene Therapy Research Unit (AGTRU) consists of molecular biologists, medical personnel, postgraduate students and tenured university appointees.
Prof. Patrick Arbuthnot (MBBCh, PhD)
Prof. Arbuthnot worked as a post-doctoral researcher at Necker Hospital in Paris and investigated development of gene therapy for treating liver cancer and hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection.
Prof. Abdullah Ely (PhD)
Prof. Ely is a group leader in Gene Therapy. He worked on exploiting the RNA interference pathway to silence HBV replication on his PHD project. Since graduating, he has continued to develop novel gene therapy-based approaches to combat chronic HBV infection.
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Dr Betty Maepa (PhD)
Dr Maepa is a group leader in Viral Vectors, she worked on characterizing Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) ribonucleotide reductase genes as potential targets for novel anti-Mtb drugs on her PHD.
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Dr Kristie Bloom (PhD)
Dr Bloom is a group leader in Next-generation vaccines. As a post-doctoral researcher at the Uniklinik Freiburg, Germany, she investigated stem cell gene therapy approaches for the treatment of pediatric immunodeficiencies.
Dr Kuben Naidoo (PhD)
Dr Naidoo is a group leader in Infectious Disease Proteomics. He worked on the characterization of a protein associated with membrane biogenesis and energy production in a developing malaria parasite.
Thobile Mtshali (MSc)
Thobile Mtshali is the laboratory manager at AGTRU. Her MSc research project involved the application of genomics in a community-based breeding program.
Nyasha Gorogodo (MSc)
Nyasha works as a medical research laboratory technician assisting with SAMVAC research projects. Her MSc research project was based on computational drug discovery.
Nozipho Mlotshwa (BSc)
Nozipho works as a medical research laboratory technician assisting with SAMVAC research projects.
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Londiwe Mathobela
Londiwe Mathobela, works as a laboratory assistant in the AGTRU lab, doing laboratory duties such preparing for student practical's and research.
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Fikile Khumalo
Fikile Khumalo works as a laboratory assistant in the AGTRU lab, performing laboratory duties such as, preparing for student practical's and research.
Tiffany Smith
Dr Tiffany Smith is an ambitious young scientist with an extensive background in microbiology, genetics and biochemistry. She is currently a postdoctoral researcher at AGTRU. She has developed novel TALEN-encoding mRNA to target and inactivate the hepatitis B virus.
Ofentse Matlhabe
Ofentse Matlhabe is an enthusiastic scientist with a background in molecular biology and TB Research. He is currently conducting his post-doctoral research within the Wits Antiviral Gene Therapy Research Unit, where his research focuses on the development of subunit-based vaccines for various zoonotic diseases.
Rebecca van Dorsten
Rebecca van Dorsten is currently a joint Postdoctoral Fellow at AGTRU and at the NICD as part of RUBIC. She is, investigating the potential of the Cl fungal expression system to express therapeutic proteins and protein sub-unit vaccines.
Postgraduate Students: PhD, MSc, BSc Honours
From left to right: Creanne Shrilall (MSc), Rutendo Ndemera (BSc Hon), Tiffany Smith (PhD), Ridhwaanah Jacobs (PhD), Dylan Kairuz (MSc), Tasneem Farhad (MSc), Prashika Singh (PhD), Keila Neves (MSc), and Nazia Samudh (MSc)