Lavania Joseph is a Medical Scientist at the Centre for Tuberculosis at the National Institute for Communicable Diseases in Johannesburg, South Africa. She obtained a Master’s degree in Medical Microbiology from the University of KwaZulu-Natal and has since focused on Mycobacterium tuberculosis research.
Her current research interests include the application of next-generation sequencing for drug resistance prediction and surveillance, the validation of critical concentrations for new and repurposed drugs, identification of genetic determinants of resistance to these drugs, and the evaluation of new molecular platforms for the detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Dikeledi Kekana is a Medical Scientist (Bioinformatics) who completed her honours degree at the Nelson Mandela University, majoring in Physiology. Her research project focused on the neuroinflamation in rats prenatally exposed to a high fat diet. Kekana completed a Master’s degree in medicine, focusing on infectious diseases and clinical microbiology from the University of the Witwatersrand. Kekana is currently working as a Bioinformatics Scientist at the National Institute of Communicable Diseases located in Johannesburg, South Africa. She is focusing on next-generation sequencing (NGS) data analysis of Viral genomes.

Jackie Kleynhans is an Epidemiologist in the Centre for Respiratory Diseases and Meningitis (CRDM) at the National Institute for Communicable Diseases in Johannesburg, South Africa. She qualified from the University of Pretoria with a Master’s degree in Public Health through the South African Field Epidemiology Training Programme and has a background in medical science. She is also a PhD candidate at the University of the Witwatersrand, working on her thesis that focuses on SARS-CoV-2 transmission and contact patterns.
At the CRDM, Kleynhans supports the development and implementation of epidemiological studies that includes assiting with protocol writing and logistics for field implementation, through to data management, cleaning and analysis, and the dissemination through reports, conference presentations and peer-review publications. She also actively participates in training activities at the centre and provides epidemiological support, mentorship and supervision to students and colleagues.
Kleynhans has a passion for learning, mastering new concepts and mentoring others. Her primary research interests include the epidemiology of respiratory diseases like influenza and COVID-19, vaccine impact studies, how social contact patterns influence the transmission of respiratory diseases, and modelling of infectious disease transmission dynamics.

Mahlape Precious Mahlangu, is an experienced Medical Scientist with skills in molecular techniques at the Centre for HIV and Sexually Transmitted Infections at the National Institute for Communicable Diseases in Johannesburg, South Africa. Driven by a passion to learn new molecular techniques, she takes pride in providing quality results for patients. Her educational background includes a Masters in Science (in Microbiology) from the University of Witwatersrand and a certificate in Total Quality Management from UNISA.
After earning her BSc Honours in Microbiology from the University of Pretoria, she entered the medical scientist world to explore her passion in the medical field. She started working at the South African Institute of Medical Research (SAIMR) as a Research Assistant in a TB Laboratory headed by Prof Hendrik J Koornhof. She then moved to the National Institute for Virology as a Medical Scietist in the Polio Laboratory headed by Prof Berry Schoub.
In order to explore different techniques, Mahlangu was requested to assist with molecular procedures in the HIV Laboratory headed by Prof Adrian Puren.

Pinky Manana is a qualified Epidemiologist with five years’ experience in providing expertise in public health and a masters’ degree in Public Health. She has 10-years’ experience in health care services and is a PhD candidate at the University of the Witwatersrand. She has published six articles in international peer-reviewed journals and presented at both national and international conferences. In 2020 she was awarded the Seed grant funding by the University of the Witwatersrand.
In 2015, Manana took a lead in a Knowledge, Attitude and Practices survey, which resulted in drafting of community engagement programs as part of the elimination strategy for malaria that has been used to increase knowledge in vector control strategies in South Africa, in collaboration with the Wits Research Institute for Malaria and the Vector Control Reference Unit at the National Institute for Communicable Diseases. In 2017, she worked in collaboration with different stakeholders in the following activities:
1. Participated in the Joint External Evaluation for the International Health Regulation 2005 in collaboration with the National Department of Health for the Centre Disease Control and Prevention (US CDC) February to November 2017 to assess readiness status of the country to detect, respond and control outbreaks.
2. Contributed towards the development of the landscape documents, job descriptions and identification of role within the different cadres in the Department of Health for the development of Epidemiology Capacity Building in South Africa.
Recently, she contributed to and supported COVID-19 activities, including investigations and management, surveillance development and monitoring, protocol writing, data analysis and manuscript writing including technical support on COVID-19 vaccination roll out.

Rutendo Eugenia Mapengo completed her honours degree at the University of Fort Hare in 2012, majoring in Biochemistry and Microbiology. She obtained her Master’s degree in Molecular and Cell biology from the University of the Witwatersrand in 2016 and worked at as a Medical Scientist at the National Institute of Communicable Diseases for three years where she focused on vaccine development and the virological and immunological aspects of HIV-1.
Mapengo specialised in tissue culture, antibodies expression and quality control, virus production and molecular biology. She is also competent in microbial biotechnology, genomics and recombinant DNA technology. Currently she is studying towards a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases at the University of the Witwatersrand. Her research focusses on the epidemiology of Histoplasma capsulatum in South Africa, with a major focus on understanding the phenotypic characterisation and population comparative genomics of Histoplasma isolates from South African patients.

Ruth Mogokotleng is a young emerging researcher, currently employed as a Medical Scientist at the Centre for Healthcare-Associated Infections, Antimicrobial Resistance and Mycoses at the National Institute for Communicable Diseases in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Mogokotleng obtained her BSc Hons and MSc degree in Medical Microbiology from the University of Pretoria. She is currently a registered part-time PhD candidate by Thesis (Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases) at the University of Witwatersrand.
Her research focus is on molecular epidemiology of ESKAPE pathogens, which causes healthcare-associated infections in South Africa. Her primary research also focus encompasses hospital-acquired pathogens and antimicrobial resistance. Ruth is also involved in the supervision and training of intern medical scientists on the application of molecular techniques in the Microbiology and Molecular Biology laboratories.

Dr Judith Mwansa-Kambafwile is a Medical Doctor with a Master’s degree in Public Health specialising in Epidemiology, obtained from the University of Cape Town and also holds a Postgraduate Diploma in TB/HIV Management. She is a Fellow of the Consortium for Advanced Research Training in Africa (CARTA) and is pursuing doctoral studies at the University of Witwatersrand.
Mwansa-Kambafwile has over 10 years of experience in TB/HIV at clinical, programmatic and research levels. She is currently working as an Epidemiologist at the Centre for Tuberculosis at the National Institute for Communicable Diseases and is involved in TB surveillance related activities. She provides epidemiological advice and support internally and externally through her involvement in different technical working groups, for instance, the National TB THINK Tank Committee.
She holds an Honorary Researcher position in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of Witwatersrand.

Noxolo Ntuli is a Medical Scientist at the Centre for Respiratory Diseases and Meningitis at the National Institute for Communicable Diseases in Johannesburg, South Africa. She obtained a BSc and BSc (Hons) in Biological Sciences at the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal. She then pursued a Master’s degree at the University of Johannesburg, majoring in Population Genetics. Ntuli is currently involved in genomic surveillance of respiratory diseases, mainly SARS-CoV-2, Pneumonia, Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and flu. She is also involved in training scientists from African countries on SARS-CoV-2 genomic surveillance under the SEQAFRICA and WHO programmes.