Prof Wendy Burgers
Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, University of Cape Town (UCT)

Host: Dr Sabelo Hadebe

Prof Wendy Burgers is a Professor in the Division of Medical Virology, Department of Pathology; a Member, of the Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine (IDM), Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town; and a contributing investigator at the Wellcome Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Africa (CIDRIAfrica). She is the current EDCTP Senior Fellow and former Wellcome Trust Intermediate Fellow in Public Health and Tropical Medicine. Prof. Wendy Burgers' research focuses on understanding cellular immunity to infectious pathogens. The work is characterising cellular immunity to SARS-CoV-2 after infection and vaccination, and identifying immune defects in tuberculosis (TB) response during HIV co-infection. She directs the Clinical Cellular Immunology Platform, a hub for vaccine evaluation (T cell immunogenicity endpoints), clinical immunology research and capacity building, for new and existing pathogens and future epidemics and pandemics. The work in the laboratory is funded by the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Platform (EDCTP), Horizon Europe, CEPI, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, South African Medical Research Council (SA MRC), PRF and several commercial partnerships.