Dr. Sophia Gessner is a Research Officer in the Molecular Mycobacteriology Research Unit (MMRU) and an IDM Fellow. She completed her PhD in 2017 at UCT under the supervision of Professor Digby Warner and Professor Valerie Mizrahi. Her research is aimed at understanding fundamental aspects of mycobacterial DNA metabolism and transmission with a specific focus on understanding the error-prone DNA damage tolerance protein complex, referred to as the mutasome.