May 2018
Our May Ambassador of the Month is Thandeka Moyo, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the National Institute of Communicable Diseases in Johannesburg, South Africa. Thandeka has played a very active role at Immunopaedia by recently contributing to the Breaking news page. Thank you Thandeka for all your hard work.
Name: Thandeka Moyo
Position: Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Research Institute: National Institute for Communicable Diseases, South Africa
Research interests: HIV immunology, vaccines, antibodies
Recent publications:
Moyo T et al., Molecular basis of unusually high neutralization resistance in tier 3 HIV-1 strain 253-11. Journal of Virology, 2018.
Moyo T et al., Chinks in the armor of the HIV-1 Envelope glycan shield: Implications for immune escape from anti-glycan broadly neutralizing antibodies. Virology, 2017.
Jacob RA*, Moyo T* et al., Anti-V3/glycan and anti-MPER neutralizing antibodies, but not anti-V2/glycan-site antibodies are strongly associated with higher anti-HIV-1 neutralization breadth and potency. Journal of Virology, 2015.
Why I love immunology: Understanding human immunology is at the core of understanding how our bodies respond and fight diseases and therefore gives a foundation for the development of drugs and vaccines to fight various conditions. Immunology has so many practical applications and is so diverse and broad that you can never get bored!
If I wasn’t an immunologist I would be: Criminal psychologist
Tips for young people who want to enter the field of immunology: Read, read and read! Immunology is always evolving so keeping up to date with the current literature will give you a big advantage! But do not get overwhelmed by all the principles and concepts; there is so much to learn but plenty time to do so!
What being an Immunopaedia Ambassador means to me: It means I get to support this platform which makes immunology accessible to the masses. I can promote the field of immunology and contribute to people’s education.
How I have contributed to Immunopaedia so far: I have been involved with Immunopaedia since 2016. I have written articles, helped in the creation of course modules and conducted a “Immunologist of the Month” interviews. I have also given a Scitalk presentation as part of a collaboration between Immunopaedia and Keystone Symposia.
You can get in touch with me at: LinkedIn or Research Gate