Dr Anastasia Koch
Affiliations
- Research Fellow, Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine
- Honorary Lecturer, Faculty of Health Science, UCT
- Molecular Microbiology Research Unit (MMRU)
- Eh!woza NPC
Key Expertise
Community Engagement, Engaged Research, TB
Main Research Focus
Anastasia co-founded Eh!woza together with artist Ed Young in 2013. The organisation operates at the intersection of public engagement, youth advocacy, and skills development to merge the biology of infectious disease with its social impact. Before working full-time on the day-to-day and conceptual work of Eh!woza, Anastasia was a junior research fellow at the Molecular Mycobacteriology Research Unit (MMRU). She maintains an honorary research position and has a strong interest in using genomics to investigate the pathobiology of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, where she works closely with Prof. Digby Warner at the MMRU. In 2025, Anastasia began a part-time MBA at UCT’s GSB and was selected to take part in the African Leadership Initiative, a local chapter of the Aspen Global Leadership network.
Most Significant Paper Authored in 2024
Patterson B., Dinkele R., Gessner S., Koch A. , Hoosen Z., January V., Leonard B., McKerry A., Seldon R., Vazi A., Hermans S., Cobelens F., Digby Warner D.F., and Wood R. (2024).
The paper was important to show that M.tb could be detected and characterised in bioaerosols, and has implications for how we understand M.tb pathobiology and transmission. I was pleased to have contributed to molecular characterisation of M.tb in bioaerosols, which was technically challenging sample due to the paucibacillary nature of the sample.