Seminar Tuesday 13:00 - 14:00
Dr Zaza Ndhlovu, University of KwaZulu Natal.
Dr. Zaza Ndhlovu’s studies seek to understand the mechanism by which rare people who are able to control viral replication in the absence of therapy (elite controllers) achieve long-term asymp¬tomatic infection. Dr. Ndhlovu and his colleagues have made significant discoveries about key features of HIV-specific killer T lymphocyte subsets that are able to inhibit viral replication and drive immune escape in elite controllers; characterizing these T cell subsets is crucial to the development of T cell based vaccines for HIV and other infectious agents. In addition to contributing vitally to vaccine science, Dr Ndhlovu also conducts scientific reading and grant writing workshops for African scientists at various African Universities.
Dr. Ndhlovu is an Instructor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, Assistant in Immunology at Massachusetts General Hospital and a Senior Lecturer at the University of KwaZulu Natal HIV Pathogenesis Programme. He received his Ph.D. in Molecular Microbiology and Immunology from Johns Hopkins University and received his pos-doctoral training at the Ragon Institute in the laboratory of Dr Bruce Walker. He has recently set up his lab at the University of KwaZulu Natal’s Nelson Mandela School of Medicine, HIV Pathogenesis Programme. Currently, Dr Ndhlovu leads the collection and processing of longitudinal samples from individuals with acute HIV-1 infection in Durban South Africa. He uses these samples to investigate the dynamics of cellular immune responses in acute HIV infection and to define the ontogeny of HIV-specific CD4+ T cell responses and their relationship to the establishment of bNAbs.
[Hosted by: Dr Erica Andersen-Nissen, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town]