Associate Professor Wendy Burgers PhD (Cambridge)
Division of Medical Virology
Associate Professor, Division of Medical Virology, Department of Pathology; Full Member, IDM, Faculty of Health Sciences, UCT; Contributing Investigator, CIDRI-Africa. Current EDCTP Senior Fellow. Former Wellcome Trust Intermediate Fellow in Public Health and Tropical Medicine.
Wendy Burgers' research group focuses on HIV-TB co-infection. They are studying how HIV affects the immune response to Mycobacterium tuberculosis in HIV-TB co-infected individuals, with a focus on adaptive immunity and in particular, the role of CD4+ Th22 cells in TB immunity. They also study the immunology of HIV pathogenesis, including how immune hyperactivation affects the latent HIV reservoir, and CD4+ Tfh cells in the development of broadly neutralising antibodies.
The work in the laboratory is funded by the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Platform (EDCTP), NIH, SA Medical Research Council, National Research Foundation, PRF and NHLS Trust.
Selected publications:
Tanko RF, Soares AP, Masson L, Werner L, Garrett NJ, Samsunder N, Abdool Karim Q, Abdool Karim SS, Riou C, Burgers WA. (2018). Incomplete normalization of T cell activation and memory subsets following antiretroviral therapy in HIV-infected women. Clinical Immunology, 195:127-138.
Bunjun R, Riou C, Soares AP, Thawer N, Müller TL, Kiravu A, Ginbot Z, Oni T, Goliath R, Kalsdorf B, Von Groote-Bidlingmaier F, Hanekom W, Walzl G, Wilkinson RJ, Burgers WA. (2017) Effect of HIV on the frequency and number of Mycobacterium tuberculosis-specific CD4+ T cells in blood and the airways in latent tuberculosis infection. Journal of Infectious Disease 216:1550-1560.
Tanko RF, Soares AP, Müller TL , Garrett NJ, Samsunder N, Abdool Karim Q, Abdool Karim SS, Riou C, Burgers WA. (2017) Effect of antiretroviral therapy on the memory and activation profiles of B cells in HIV-infected African women. Journal of Immunology,198:1220-1228.
Riou C, Strickland N, Soares AP, Corleis B, Kwon DS, Wherry EJ, Wilkinson RJ, and Burgers WA. (2016) HIV skews Mycobacterium tuberculosis-specific CD4+ T helper subset diversity. Journal of Immunology, 196:3006-18.
Riou C, Tanko RF, Soares AP, Masson L, Werner L, Garrett NJ, Samsunder N, Abdool Karim Q, Abdool Karim SS and Burgers WA. (2015) Restoration of CD4+ responses to co-pathogens in HIV-infected individuals on antiretroviral therapy is dependent on T cell memory phenotype. Journal of Immunology, 195:2273-81.
Contact details:
Room 3.36.1, Level 3, Entrance 4, Falmouth Building
Division of Medical Virology, Department of Pathology
Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine
UCT Faculty of Health Sciences, Observatory 7925
South Africa
Tel: +27 21 406 6090
Fax: +27 21 406 6682
Email: wendy.burgers@uct.ac.za
Alternate site: www.virology.uct.ac.za/vir/research/hivtb-immunology-pathogenesis-group
Group Members:
| Members | Position |
|---|---|
| Kathryn Norman | Administrator |
| Dr Helen Mearns | Junior Research Fellow |
| Dr Marius Tincho | Post-doctoral scientist |
| Dr Jerome Wendoh Milimu | Post-doctoral scientist |
| Rofhiwa Nesamari | PhD student |
| Mohau Steven Makatsa | PhD student |
| Sherazaan Ismail | PhD student |
| Tshepiso Mbangiwa | PhD student |
| Zandile Booi | MSc student |
| Abulele Bekiswa | NRF Intern |
Collaborations:
| Carolyn Williamson | IDM and Division of Medical Virology, UCT |
| Anna-Lise Williamson | IDM and Division of Medical Virology, UCT |
| Robert Wilkinson | IDM and CIDRI-Africa, UCT |
| Nigel Garrett | CAPRISA, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa |
| Kogieleum Naidoo | CAPRISA, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa |
| Salim Abdool Karim | CAPRISA, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa |
| Lynn Morris | NICD, South Africa |
| Penny Moore | NICD, South Africa |
| Mario Roederer | Vaccine Research Center, USA |
| Ronald Swanstrom | University of North Carolina, USA |
| Douglas Kwon | Ragon Institute, Harvard, USA |
