Professor Thomas Scriba

Professor Thomas Scriba MSc (Stell), DPhil (Oxon)

Deputy Director (Immunology), South African Tuberculosis Vaccine Initiative (SATVI), Member of the Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine (IDM), Division of Immunology, Department of Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, UCT.

SATVI’s mission is the development of new and effective prevention strategies against tuberculosis (TB), including vaccination and biomarker-targeted treatment approaches. They are testing multiple new vaccine candidates in clinical trials; and are involved with projects to address critical clinical, epidemiological, immunological and human genetic questions in TB pathogenesis and vaccine development. Activities are within an academic context, and thus include the training of postgraduate students and postdoctoral fellows.

The team of over 100 staff consists of specialists in clinical, epidemiological, human immunology and systems biology, clinical trials, community liaison, recruitment, and follow-up; data management and analysis, disease surveillance, information technology, clinical evaluation and care of study participants; facility management, laboratory technology, logistics, research pharmacy management, project management, regulatory affairs, administration, study coordination and training.

Tom Scriba’s particular interests focus on understanding the immunopathology of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection and TB disease developing correlates of risk and immunological correlates of protection against TB.

Selected publications:

Penn-Nicholson A, Tameris M, Smit E, Day TA, Musvosvi M, Jayashankar L, Vergara J, Mabwe S, Bilek N, Geldenhuys H, Luabeya AK, Ellis R, Ginsberg AM, Hanekom WA, Reed SG, Coler RN, Scriba TJ*, Hatherill M*. Safety and immunogenicity of the novel tuberculosis vaccine ID93 + GLA-SE in BCG-vaccinated healthy adults in South Africa: a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 1 trial. Lancet Respir Med. (2018) 6:287–298.

Scriba TJ*, Penn-Nicholson A*, Shankar S*, Hraha T, Thompson EG, Sterling D, Nemes E, Darboe F, Suliman S, Amon LM, Mahomed H, Erasmus M, Whatney W, Johnson JL, Boom WH, Hatherill M, Valvo J, De Groote MA, Ochsner UA, Aderem A, Hanekom WA, Zak DE; other members of the ACS cohort study team. Sequential inflammatory processes define human progression from M. tuberculosis infection to tuberculosis disease. PLoS Pathog. (2017) Nov 16;13(11):e1006687.

Nemes E, Rozot V, Geldenhuys H, Bilek N, Mabwe S, Abrahams D, Makhethe L, Erasmus M, Keyser A, Toefy A, Cloete Y, Ratangee F, Blauenfeldt T, Ruhwald M, Walzl G, Smith B, Loxton AG, Hanekom WA, Andrews JR, Lempicki MD, Ellis R, Ginsberg AM, Hatherill M, Scriba TJ; C-040-404 Study Team and ACS Study Team. Optimization and Interpretation of Serial QuantiFERON Testing to Measure Acquisition of M. tuberculosis Infection. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. (2017) 196(5):638-648.

Zak DE*, Penn-Nicholson A*, Scriba TJ*, Thompson E, Suliman S, Amon LM, Mahomed H, Erasmus M, Whatney W, Hussey GD, Abrahams D, Kafaar F, Hawkridge T, Verver S, Hughes EJ, Ota M, Sutherland J, Howe R, Dockrell HM, Boom WH, Thiel B, Ottenhoff THM, Mayanja-Kizza H, Crampin AC, Downing K, Hatherill M, Valvo J, Shankar S, Parida SK, Kaufmann SHE, Walzl G, Aderem A, Hanekom WA, for other members of the ACS and GC6-74 cohort study teams. A prospective blood RNA signature for tuberculosis disease risk: a prospective cohort study. The Lancet (2016) 387:2312-22.

Contact details:

Room S2.01, Wernher and Beit South Building
Faculty of Health Sciences
University of Cape Town
Anzio Road
Observatory 7925

Tel:  +27 21 406 6791
Fax: +27 21 406 6081
Email: thomas.scriba@uct.ac.za

Alternate site: www.satvi.uct.ac.za/