June 2024
Professor Dieter Kabelitz is an eminent immunologist with an impressive career spanning over 30 years. He served as a full professor at the University of Kiel and was the director of the Institute of Immunology from 1999 to 2018. Dieter continued his career as a senior research group leader at the Institute for Immunology of the University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein Institute of Immunology (UKSH) at the University of Kiel, Germany. He focuses on the functional characterization of γδ T cells. Specifically, he explores strategies to enhance the effector functions of these cells for potential use in cancer immunotherapy. Prof. Kabelitz has been involved in several educational and scientific organizations, including serving as the president of the German Society for Immunology and as a council member of the International Union of Immunological Societies (IUIS). Dieter is currently the past-Chair of the IUIS Education Committee, and he has been involved in building IUIS courses for many years.
Read more – Dieter Kabelitz
May 2024
Roslyn Kemp is a Professor of Immunology at the University of Otago, Otakou Whakaihu Waka, New Zealand, and is a member of the Maurice Wilkins Centre for Molecular Biodiscovery. She investigates molecular signalling pathways in T cells and their role in immune responses to tumours and inflammatory bowel disease. Professor Kemp was awarded the Miriam Dell Award for Science Mentoring in 2015. She also recently co-authored the book “How to Be a Scientist: Critical Thinking in the Life Sciences.”
Ros is a driving force at the International Union of Immunological Societies (IUIS). She is on the IUIS Council and serves as Vice Chair of many committees; namely the IUIS Education Committee, the Gender Equity Committee, and the Publications Committee. Most importantly to Immunopaedia, Ros is Chair of the IUIS EDU Online Subcommittee, which oversees Immunopaedia pre-course content.
Read more – Roslyn Kemp
April 2024
Dr Rubina Bunjun obtained her PhD and completed her post-doc at the University of Cape Town (UCT), South Africa. Her current research focuses on understanding immunity to SARS-CoV-2 in Africa, namely, investigating pre-existing immunity to SARS-CoV-2 in adolescents, and immune dysfunction during “long COVID”. Rubina is also a Junior Research Fellow within the Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine (IDM) at UCT. She is also passionate about science communication and is an advocate for improving mental health in academia.
Read more – Rubina Bunjun
March 2024
Dr Prossy Naluyima is a laboratory scientist with a bachelor’s degree in biomedical laboratory technology from Makerere University, a Master of Science degree in Biomedical Science from the University of Ulster, Northern Ireland, UK, and a doctorate in Medical Science, specializing in Immunology from Karolinska Institute of Sweden.
She has 20 years of experience in medical research with the Makerere University Walter Reed Project (MUWRP), Uganda. Dr Naluyima oversees laboratories that support the evaluation of the health of patients, and the safety and immunogenicity of biological products for the prevention or therapy of infectious and non-infectious diseases.
Read more – Prossy Naluyima
February 2024
Talitha Müller is near the end of their PhD in Clinical Science and Immunology under the supervision of Prof Jonny Peter and Prof Edward Sturrock; and she recently finished her 4th year of Medicine at the University of Cape Town (UCT). Talitha is on the MBChB-PhD track under the UCT CSTP (Clinician Scientist Training Program) at UCT. She is studying the effect that COVID-19 disease has on the renin angiotensin system (RAS) and its links to the immune response to COVID-19, across the spectrum of disease severity from asymptomatic infection to critical disease.
Read more – Talitha Müller
January 2024
Lauren Cruywagen completed an undergraduate degree in Medical Biosciences at the University of the Western Cape, South Africa. She earned an honours degree in Infectious Diseases and Immunology at the University of Cape Town (UCT). Lauren became a Medical Scientist at the University of the Witwatersrand. She then moved back to Cape Town to join laboratory-based roles in Immunology at the UCT Lung Institute. After working for an academic institution for a few years, Lauren took a short employment experience as a Quality Control Scientist at Roche Sequencing Solutions. Lauren was a Senior Research Assistant within the Stellenbosch University Immunology Group. She is now a PhD student at South African Tuberculosis Vaccine Initiative (SATVI) at UCT.
Read more – Lauren Cruywagen