Division of Immunology
IMMUNOLOGY RESEARCH GROUP
The postdoctoral fellows recently completed their doctoral degrees and conduct full-time research. A Postdoctoral Research Fellowship provides opportunities for the development of professional and research skills with the intent to transition to independent scholars.
Dr Tariq Webber
Walzl Lab
twebber@sun.ac.za
I have been a science enthusiast from an early age, developing a love for biology, and later, immunology. Unraveling the cell interaction and signaling networks that define appropriate immune responses has intrigued me since learning immunology. My postgraduate studies gave me a taste of this, in understanding the immune and endocrine interactions at play in the tuberculosis-type 2 diabetes comorbidity. I have since nurtured a desire to understand the hormone signaling mechanisms that play crucial roles in the immune response, how their alterations can lead to infectious disease susceptibility or be used to improve treatment efficacy and disease resolution.
Dr Bih Chendi
TB Diagnostic Biomarkers Lab
bihchendi@sun.ac.za
I am a post-doctoral research fellow working in the field of Tuberculosis biomarker discovery for the development of biomarker-based tests for point-of-care usage. In my research group, I am also the research laboratory coordinator responsible for the scientific and laboratory coordination of research projects, overseeing the day-to-day management and provide input into the leadership of all projects, carry out laboratory experiments, analyze and interpret data, and draft manuscripts for publication, and involved in the training and supervision of postgraduate students. My PhD was focused on evaluating host biosignatures (inflammatory protein and transcriptomic biomarkers) for Tuberculosis in low (Norway) and high endemic (South-Africa) settings.
Dr Emily Tangie
TB Diagnostic Biomarkers Lab
etangie@sun.ac.za
Emily Tangie is a postdoctoral research fellow in the Division of Molecular Biology and Human Genetics at Stellenbosch University. Her current research focus is to identify and validate immunological biomarkers as potential tools for a point-of-care diagnosis and monitoring of treatment response to spinal TB. She is also interested in characterising the immune cell profiles in blood and cerebrospinal fluid of paediatric TB meningitis subjects. She holds a PhD in Clinical Science and Immunology from the University of Cape Town during which she contributed to our understanding of the impact of malaria on the immunogenicity and efficacy of BCG against M. tuberculosis in mouse model.
Dr Osagie Eribo
Innate Immunity Lab
osagieeribo@sun.ac.za
I am a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Stellenbosch University Immunology Innate Immunity Lab. For my Ph.D., I investigated how alterations in the gut microbiota may dysregulate the host immune response to Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection and influence susceptibility. My current research is focused on delineating host immune-pathogen interactions at the site of disease during tuberculosis (TB) to possibly explain differences in immune response in the human TB disease spectrum. My other research interests/activities involve using microbe-phenotype triangulation (MPT) to identify direct causal relationships between the microbiome and disease/immune phenotypes during Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection.
