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Dr Wynand Johan Goosen was a “founding" member of the Animal TB Research Group when it was started in 2014. He upgraded from his MSc to a PhD, which he completed in 2016. His research focus has been immune responses of buffalo and cattle to M. bovis. Since graduating, Wynand joined an internationally known TB research group based at Groote Schuur Hospital, UCT under the mentorship of Prof Keertan Dheda. During his time at UCT, Wynand has learned a lot about designing and developing innovative and new diagnostic molecular tools for the diagnosis of drug-resistant tuberculosis. He spearheaded various therapeutic intervention projects surrounding the treatment of XDR-TB infected patients and co-designed devices able to measure the infectiousness of these patients in the community. Wynand rejoined the Animal TB Group in 2018 and is currently a Wellcome Foundation Researcher. His work focuses on improving the surveillance of zoonotic Mycobacteria spp. in livestock, wildlife, and their environment in rural areas by utilizing state-of-the-art culture-independent next-generation sequencing.​ He will supervise 3 PhD candidates and 1 international MSc candidate (International Livestock Research Institute, Kenya​) this year. He is a National Geographic Explorer, vice-chair of the Wildlife Disease Association Africa/Middle East, and is a member of various committees, including the Biological and Environmental Safety Ethics committee, South African Young Academy of Science, and South Africa Veterinary Immunology committee. His hobbies include parenting, powerlifting, camping, hiking, fishing, hiking, bird watching, and reading.