Division of Molecular Biology & Human Genetics
Mycobacteriology: Host-Pathogen Mycobactomics
Members
Principal Investigator
Prof. Samantha Sam
pson
Prof Sampson is a tuberculosis (TB) researcher with expertise in mycobacterial genetics, microbiology, immunology and animal models of TB. Prof. Sampson obtained her PhD from Stellenbosch University, and undertook post-doctoral training at the Harvard University School of Public Health and Imperial College London (where she held a Wellcome Trust Research Career Development Fellowship). Upon being awarded a SARChI Chair in Mycobactomics, she returned to South Africa to establish a research group focused on TB host-pathogen interactions within the DST/NRF Centre of Excellence in Biomedical Tuberculosis Research in the Division of Molecular Biology and Human Genetics.
Life outside the lab Dogs and dog sports!
Senior Scientists
Dr Jomien Mouton
Understanding the biology of persister populations of M. tuberculosis at the host-pathogen interface
Dr. Mouton was awarded the VALIDATE Early Career Researcher Award in November 2018, where she focussed her research on characterising antigens and biosignatures associated with latent tuberculosis infection. Dr. Mouton holds an official affiliate status with Stellenbosch University and remains a valuable member of Host-Pathogen Mycobactomics
Email jomien@sun.ac.za
LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/jomien-mouton-12853746/?originalSubdomain=za
Life outside the Lab My children / Running / Pilates
Post Doctoral Research Fellows
Dr. Nastassja Kriel 
The isolation and characterisation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis persister cells
Dr. Kriel investigates the genes and pathways required for the formation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis persister bacteria by using transposon libraries and highly accurate sequencing data.
Email nastassja@sun.ac.za
LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/nastassja-kriel-732509a5
Life outside the lab My daughter, Nina / Pets / Baking
Dr. Bahareh Bagheri 
Deciphering polymicrobial interactions in tuberculosis using model co-infection systems
Dr. Bagheri is a researcher with expertise in biotechnology, microbiology and microbial ecology. Dr. Bagheri obtained her PhD from Stellenbosch University in 2018, where she investigated the effect of biotic and abiotic parameters on microbial interactions in a multi-space ecosystem. Following her PhD, Bahareh joined The Division of Molecular Biology and Human Genetics as a post-doctoral researcher. Her post-doc focusses on studying co-infections in TB patients by investigating the interaction between Mycobacterium tuberculosis and other fungal and bacterial pathogens.
Email bagheri@sun.ac.za
LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/bahar-bagheri-phd-53562a110/
Life outside the lab Gardening / Juggling / Learning German / Coaching Students
PhD Candidates
Trisha Parbhoo
The characterization of Mycobacterium tuberculosis persister cells at a single-cell level
Trisha's PhD project focusses on investigating Mycobacterium tuberculosis persister cells at a single-cell level using fluorescence dilution and flow cytometry. Trisha will assess the impact that bacterial burden, phagocytosis and phagosome acidification have on inducing persister populations upon macrophage uptake
Supervisor Prof. Samantha Sampson
Co-supervisor Dr. Jomien Mouton
Email trishap@sun.ac.za
Life outside the lab Rock climbing
Zimvo Obasa
Mycobacterium tuberculosis at the host-pathogen interface
Zimvo's PhD project is split into two main arms: (1) The first arm focusses on characterizing the impact of mycobacterium persisters on host immune responses by measuring intracellular cytokine concentrations and performing RNA extraction on Mycobacterium tuberculosis-infected macrophages; (2) Secondly, Zimvo will focus on evaluating the use of our in-house replication reporter system in identifying persister populations in a murine infection model.
Supervisor Prof. Samantha Sampson
Co-Supervisor Dr. Jomien Mouton / Dr. Liezel Smith
Email maqeda@sun.ac.za
LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/mynetwork/invite-connect/connections/
Life outside the lab Baking / Outfoor Activities
Su-Mari du Plessis
Biomimetic nanoparticle-based host-directed therapy (HDT) for the eradication of Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Su-Mari's PhD aims at investigating the immune-stimulating effects of polymer-based and metal-organic framework (MOF) nanoparticles (NPs) functionalised with curdlan and mycolic acids. Curdlan is a naturally occurring polysaccharide known to stimulate an antibacterial response and mycolic acids are the dominant class of lipids found on the surface of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Curdlan and mycolic acids are added to the surface of MOF NPs, where they are able to alter the shape of MOF NPs, allowing the NPs to closely mimic Mycobacterium tuberculosis. This will allow Su-Mari to investigate the biomimetic ability of NPs by investigating the stimulated antibacterial immune response. Through the upregulation of the immune response, Su-Mari intends to create a host-directed therapeutic anti-TB approach that focuses on the processes that contribute to mycobacterial killing, rather than the bacterium itself.
Supervisor Prof. Samantha Sampson (SU)
Co-Supervisor Dr. Nelita du Plessis (SU) / Prof. Admire Dube (UWC) / Dr. Josh Reineke (SDSU)
Email sduplessis@sun.ac.za
LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/su-mari-du-plessis-283442160/
Life outside the lab Anything sport-related and preferably in nature
Mpala Pilula
Population structure, transmission dynamics and pathobiology of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in Zambia
Mpala is a PhD student in a sandwich program between Stellenbosch University, South Africa (SU) and Copperbelt University, Zambia. Her PhD focusses on understanding the genomic and virulence characteristics that attribute to the current lineage structure and transmission of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in Zambia. To achieve this, Mpala will use whole-genome sequencing, bioinformatics and macrophage infection models.
Supervisor Prof. Samantha Sampson (SU)
Co-supervisor Prof. Victor Mwanakasale (Copperbelt University)
Email pilulampala@sun.ac.za
Life outside the lab Nature watching / Gardening
Esther Uwimaana
Functional characterization of T-cell immunogenicity of PPE_MPTR proteins of Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Esther obtained her Master of Science in Immunology and Clinical Microbiology at Makerere University, Uganda. Esther joined the Division of Molecular Biology and Human Genetics in 2021 as a PhD student where she intends to characterize the T-cell immune response to PPE_MPTR proteins of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
Supervisor Prof. Samantha Sampson
Co-supervisor Prof. Andre Loxton
Email euwimaana@sun.ac.za
Life outside the lab Spending time with friends / Swimming / Hiking / Travelling
Pamela Ncube
Molecular and phenotypic characterization of Mycobacterium bovis persisters in South African wildlife
Pamela completed her BSc in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, BSc (Hons) in Microbiology and BSc (MSc) in Molecular Biology in 2015, 2016 and 2020, respectively. Pamela is a "shared" PhD student of the Host-Pathogen Mycobactomics and Animal TB Research Groups. Her PhD aims to validate the in vitro acid stress model of Mycobacterium bovis, explore macrophage-infection models and examine molecular mechanisms involved during these stress conditions. Understanding Mycobacterium bovis persister formation will build fundamental knowledge on whether latent TB disease (asymptomatic state of TB disease) exists within animals or not.
Supervisor Prof. Samantha Sampson
Co-supervisor Prof. Michele Miller / Dr. Bahareh Bagheri
Email pncube25@sun.ac.za
LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/pamela-ncube-45a51256
Life outside the lab Jogging / Hiking / Sightseeing
MSc Candidates
Lesedi Dikhoba
Identification of biosignatures associated with latent Mycobacterium tuberculosis
In her MSc, Lesedi will determine whether macrophages containing actively replicating Mycobacterium tuberculosis and viable but non-replicating Mycobacterium tuberculosis have differential macrophage polarisation phenotypes. Lesedi will achieve this by using a combination of fluorescence dilution and flow cytometry.
Supervisor Dr. Jomien Mouton
Co-supervisor Prof. Samantha Sampson
Email lesedid@sun.ac.za
LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/lesedi-dikhoba-116661120/
Life outside the lab Cooking / Singing / Afrobeat Dancing / Creating YouTube Videos
Julian Coetzee
Investigating the relationship between persister formation and clinical outcome in tuberculosis patients.
Julian obtained his undergraduate and honours degrees in Biotechnology from the University of the Western Cape (UWC), where his main focus was elucidating secondary metabolites from Actinobacteria. In 2019, Julian joined the Division of Molecular Biology and Human Genetics as a Master's candidate where he focussed on evaluating the correlation between persister formation and pulmonary TB disease outcome.
Supervisor Dr. Jomien Mouton
Co-supervisor Prof. Samantha Sampson / Dr. Anzaan Dippenaar
Email jlcoetzee@sun.ac.za
Life outside the lab Hiking / Baking / Cooking
Tom Jack Bartizal
Investigating the localization of the PPE_MPTR proteins at the host-pathogen interface
TJ's MSc project focusses on an understudied sub-family of proteins native to Mycobacterium tuberculosis, known as the PPE_MPTR proteins. There are some studies that suggest biologically relevant roles of some PPE_MPTR proteins, however, the fundamental aspects of this protein sub-family are poorly understood. TJ's MSc aims to provide insight into the secretion and localisation of selected PPE_MPTR proteins in order to better understand their role at the host-pathogen interface.
Supervisor Prof. Samantha Sampson
Co-supervisor Dr. Nastassja Kriel
Email bartizaltj@sun.ac.za
LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/tom-bartizal-69298b153
Life outside the lab Hiking / Video Games / Ghost Hunting
Raadhiyah Mathee
Tracking persisters in Mycolicibacterium smegmatis biofilms
Raadhiyah joined The Division of Molecular Biology and Human Genetics as an honours student in 2020. In 2021, Raadhiyah started her MSc degree where she will be exploiting a Mycolicibacterium smegmatis biofilm model using a flow cell system to understand mycobacterial persister formation and phenotypes.
Supervisor Prof. Samantha Sampson
Co-supervisor Dr. Jomien Mouton / Dr. Bahareh Bagheri
Email rmathee@sun.ac.za
Life outside the lab Gardening (mostly herbs and succulents) / Spending time at the beach / Watching TV shows about rare medical conditions / Reading murder mysteries
Hons Candidates
Tayla Juliet Smith
Functional Characterization of PPE_MPTR proteins
Tayla obtained a Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Chemistry from Stellenbosch University in 2020. She joined the Host-Pathogen Mycobactomics Research Group as an honours student in 2021, and her project involves the functional characterization of Mycobacterium tuberculosis PPE_MPTR proteins.
Supervisor Dr. Nastassja Kriel
Co-supervisor Prof. Samantha Sampson
Email tsmith@sun.ac.za
Life outside the lab Reading / Watching true crime and medical documentaries / Spending time with friends
