VALIDATE Workshop: One Health in TB and Leishmaniasis - Delegate Biographies
Dr Salem Almujri
Lecturer, King Khalid University, Saudi Arabia
Salem Almujri obtained his PhD from the University of Oxford, conducting research on immunopeptidomics and immunoinformatics for tuberculosis vaccines under the supervision of Prof Helen McShane and Dr Nicola Ternette. He later became a lecturer at the College of Pharmacy and a principal investigator at a newly established vaccine unit in King Khalid University. Salem continues his research on antigen discovery in collaboration with the Jenner Institute, focusing on classical and non-classical MHC molecules. He is also collaborating with the Ministry of Agriculture in Saudi Arabia to develop vaccines for Paratuberculosis and Brucellosis. Additionally, he is developing a subunit vaccine platform using protein nanoparticles, aiming to elicit a stronger immune response with broad application against various pathogens.
Email: ssalmujri@kku.edu.sa
Prof Gobena Ameni
Professor of Veterinary Infectious Diseases and Zoonoses, United Arab Emirates University, United Arab Emirates
Gobena Ameni is currently a Professor of Veterinary Infectious Diseases and Zoonoses at the Department of Veterinary
Medicine, United Arab Emirates University and an Adjunct Professor at Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia. Gobena obtained his DVM from Addis Ababa University in July 1996 and his PhD in Immunology from Imperial College, UK, in February 2009. He has been engaged in teaching and supervising students and researching infectious and zoonotic diseases. During the last 20 years, he lead or co-lead 12 research projects and authored (or co-authored) 180 scopus indexed articles. He taught several courses to graduate and undergraduate students at Addis Ababa, Jimma and United Arab Emirates universities. He supervised 93 MSc and 32 PhD theses so far at various universities.
Email: gobena.ameni@uaeu.ac.ae
Dr Federico Blanco
Associate researcher, INTA, Argentina
Federico is an Early Career Researcher (ECR) hailing from INTA Argentina, where he is deeply engrossed in the field of bovine tuberculosis (bTB). His primary concentration lies in deciphering the intricate interplay between mycobacteria and the immune system of bovines. Within this realm, Federico has also honed his expertise in delineating biomarkers indicative of infection and protection in cases of bTB. Moreover, he delves into the assessment of weakened mutants of M. bovis, strategically positioned as potential contenders for effective vaccines in the fight against bovine tuberculosis.
Email: blanco.federico@inta.gob.ar
Dr Richard Burchmore
Head of Proteomics & Senior Lecturer in Parasitology, University of Glasgow, UK
Richard has been a leishmaniac since his undergraduate research project back in 1988. His research primarily centers around host: pathogen interactions, with a special emphasis on the role of parasite nutrient transporters.
A significant portion of Richard’s work involves leveraging mass spectrometry for proteomic and metabolomic analyses.
Dr Thouraya Boussoffara
Assoc Prof of Immunology, Pasteur Institute of Tunis, Tunisia
Thouraya Boussoffara, Associate Professor of Immunology, works as an immunologist researcher at the laboratory of Transmission, Control and Immunobiology of Infections at Institute Pasteur of Tunis. Her major field of research activities is leishmaniasis. Part of her research activity focuses on analysis of the immune responses against the parasite Leishmania, specifically the cytotoxic immune response and identification of the immune correlates of protection. Additional research work has been oriented towards the identification of Leishmania antigens that may constitute potential candidates for the development of a vaccine, with several Leishmania antigens identified, especially among excreted secreted proteins, that were considered for the design of candidate vaccines.
Dr Lin-Mari de Klerk-Lorist
State veterinarian, Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development, South Africa
Lin-Mari de Klerk-Lorist is currently employed as a state veterinarian (SV) with the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform, and Rural Development (DALRRD), stationed at the satellite office at Skukuza, Kruger National Park (KNP). She has been involved in various disease surveys of several animal species across the KNP landscape and continues to do abattoir surveillance at the KNP research abattoir. She is the chairperson of the Buffalo Advisory Committee (BAC), and she also serves as the OIE wildlife focal point of South Africa. She believes that wildlife disease surveillance, especially at the interface, is crucial from a One Health perspective.
Email: Linmariedk@dalrrd.gov.za
Dr Juan Dib
Research Professor, Universidad del Norte, Colombia
For more than 20 years Juan has been dedicated to the integral study of tropical diseases, parasitology and infectious diseases in rural and remote areas of Colombia with indigenous population. He has experience teaching PhD students, developing fieldwork with communities and doing surveillance of infectious diseases. In addition, Juan has expertise in determining transmission dynamics of infectious diseases by molecular epidemiological studies and POCT in rural remote areas.
Mrs Maria I Echavarría
SIHI and IR training coordinator, Centro Internacional de Entrenamiento e Investigaciones Médicas (CIDEIM), Colombia
Maria I Echavarría, a Colombian microbiologist with an MPH in Global Health, has over 10 years of experience as a technical advisor in health programs. She has worked with public and private hospitals, public health institutions, and multinational companies in Colombia. Recently, she transitioned to the academic sector, engaging in public health and community-based research projects. Currently, Maria I Echavarría coordinates regional training efforts aimed at strengthening capacity in implementation research in Latin America. Additionally, she serves as the coordinator for the Latinoamerica Hub for Social Innovation in Health (SIHI LAC Hub), focusing on promoting social innovation research in the
LAC region.
Email: miechavarria@cideim.org.co
Dr Begna Tula
Associate Professor of Tropical and Infectious Diseases, Bahir Dar University, Ethiopia
Begna Tulu Eticha (PhD) is an Associate Professor of Tropical and Infectious Diseases at the College of Medicine and Health Sciences of Bahir Dar University in Ethiopia. His primary areas of scientific interest include Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) and respiratory infections, particularly tuberculosis (TB). In addition, he serves as a research consultant for the Addis Ababa City Food Medicine and Health Care Administration and Control Authority (AA FMHACA) on issues related to the quality and safety of packaged foods, vegetables, and fruits made from wastewater. His ultimate objective is to aid in the development of TB diagnostic tools and vaccines.
Email: tulubegna@gmail.com
Dr Giovanni Ghielmetti
Research Fellow, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University / Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Zurich, South Africa / Switzerland
Dr Giovanni Ghielmetti is a research microbiologist and a diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Microbiologists. He has been involved in the monitoring and investigation of mycobacterial diseases at the Swiss National Reference Laboratory for Bovine Tuberculosis and has acquired knowledge of disease control and prevention, clinical management, and diagnostic possibilities. In March 2023, he joined the Animal TB Research Group at Stellenbosch University as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow.
Email: gghielmetti@sun.ac.za
Dr Amanda Gibson
Lecturer Innate Immunology, Aberystwyth University, UK
Amanda has been actively researching host-pathogen interactions between mycobacteria and its respective host. She is especially interested in the impact of the environment, co-infection and access to health systems on neglected diseases such as tuberculosis in humans and cattle. Particularly interested in cross-sector learning from veterinary and human medicine and applied research areas.
Email: amg39@aber.ac.uk
Dr Maria Adelaida Gomez
Scientist and Coordinator of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Centro Internacional de Entrenamiento e Investigaciones Médicas (CIDEIM), Colombia
Adelaida’s research program aims to unravel the host-pathogen interactions and underlying mechanisms that determine the clinical and therapeutic outcomes of human infections with intracellular protozoan parasites. Her career in human cutaneous leishmaniasis has provided her with a programmatic vision of translational research on intracellular and neglected infectious diseases. This encompasses the biomedical understanding of microbial/host triggers and determinants of immunopathology, the methodological pipelines for identification of predictive and prognostic biomarkers of clinical and therapeutic outcomes of infection and disease, and the tools and approaches for determining profiles of healing and non-healing responses, for identifying host targets for immunomodulation, and for pre-clinical and clinical evaluation of therapies, among others.
Email: mgomez@cideim.org.co
Dr Camila González
Associate Professor, Universidad de los Andes, Colombia
Camila’s main field of research is infectious disease ecology. The primary goal of her research is to assess how environmental factors impact infectious disease transmission cycles. Camila’s work involves investigating how ecological patterns shape the occurrence of vector-borne and zoonotic diseases. Her research methodology includes implementing spatial analyses, interaction networks, and ecological niche modeling. Within the Research Center on Tropical Microbiology and Parasitology (CIMPAT) at Universidad de Los Andes, Camila conducts research on tropical infectious diseases using a diverse range of approaches. These approaches range from studying molecular parasite-host interactions to conducting spatial analyses on species distribution under climate change scenarios at continental scales.
Dr Wynand Goosen
Researcher TB One Health, Stellenbosch University, Animal TB Research Group, South Africa
Wynand, possesses an unwavering fascination and dedication to advancing the genomic surveillance of zoonotic tuberculosis (TB) in people, livestock, wildlife, and their environments, with a strong emphasis on global health. Growing up in rural Eastern Cape, South Africa, he was surrounded by diverse disease management strategies implemented for livestock and wildlife due to their frequent interactions with humans. This early exposure served as a catalyst for his ambition to become an independent scientific leader in the field of zoonotic infectious diseases. In 2016, Wynand achieved a significant milestone by completing his PhD in Molecular Biology, building upon his earlier accomplishments, including upgrading his MSc in 2014.
Email: wjgoosen@sun.ac.za
Prof Eamonn Gormley
Professor of Veterinary Microbiology, University College Dublin, Ireland
Eamonn is the Director of the Bovine TB diagnostics and Immunology Research laboratory in the School of Veterinary Medicine at UCD. The principal work of the laboratory is diagnostic blood testing on TB infected animals, used as a tool to assist in the eradication of bovine TB from the national cattle herd. The laboratory also conducts significant research into improving the performance of the blood test by investigating different antigen combinations, novel antigens and different cytokine assay platforms. Eamonn also directs the wildlife BCG vaccination research programme for the national Department of Agriculture, Food & the Marine (DAFM). He is involved in collaborative studies using advanced transcriptomic technologies to identify genetic signatures of susceptibility and resistance to infection with M. bovis.
Email: egormley@ucd.ie
Prof Christian Gortazar
Professor of Animal Health, Universidad de Castilla La Mancha (UCLM), Spain
Christian Gortázar is a professor of animal health at the IREC National Wildlife Research Institute, University of Castilla - La Mancha, Spain. His research combines ecology, veterinary sciences and biotechnology to provide solutions to relevant health problems such as tuberculosis. His team performs collaborative research on TB vaccines (heat-inactivated Mycobacterium bovis) and their cross-protective effects using a variety of animal models.
Email: christian.gortazar@uclm.es
Dr Ana Marcia Guimarães
Assistant Professor of Microbiology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, University of São Paulo, Brazil
Ana is a veterinarian with a Masters degree in epidemiology and a PhD in microbiology. She is currently an Assistant Professor of Microbiology at University of São paulo, Brazil. Ana’s research is focused on tuberculosis of humans and animals, particularly on genomics, bacterial physiology and host-pathogen interactions.
Email: anamarcia@usp.br
Prof Rogelio Hernandez Pando
Senior Resercher in Medicine Sciences, Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Medicas y Nutricion Salvador Zubiran, Mexico
Prof Rogelio Hernandez Pando is an MD, specialist in Pathology, PhD in Immunology from the Medicine School and Biomedical Research Institute at National University of Mexico, and postdoctoral studies at Bacteriology Department, School of Pathology University College of London UK. Since the last 15 years he has been the Chairman of the Experimental Pathology Section, Department of Pathology at National Institute of Medical Sciences and Nutrition in Mexico City., which is considered the best academic center in Medicine
in Mexico.
Dr Nastassja Kriel
Junior Researcher, Stellenbosch University, South Africa
Nastassja is a molecular biologist at Stellenbosch University with an interest in Tuberculosis. Her primary focus is the study of viable but non-replicating persister bacteria, a small population of antibiotic tolerant bacteria that can go dormant and reactivate to cause disease. Specifically, how Mycobacterium tuberculosis enters a persister state and how these persister bacteria interact with its host to ensure long term survival. Understanding the interactions between the intracellular pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis and its host, as well as the mechanisms that enable its persisterstate, is crucial for the prevention of persistent infections and reducing the duration of anti-tuberculosis treatments.
Email: nastassja@sun.ac.za
Dr Rajiv Kumar
Assistant Professor, Banaras Hindu University, India
Dr Rajiv Kumar is an Assistant Professor at the Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi-India. His research interests are to understand the immune mechanisms underlying the progression of parasitic diseases and to distinguish anti-parasitic host immune responses that control disease from the responses that cause disease.
Email: rajiv082@yahoo.com
Prof Michele Miller
Professor, South African Research Chair in Animal Tuberculosis, Stellenbosch University, South Africa
Michele received her MS and PhD in Immunology, and DVM from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Masters’ in Public Health (MPH) at the University of Florida-Gainesville. She is also a diplomate of the European College of Zoological Medicine. She did her post-doctoral training at San Diego Zoo, then went onto work at several zoos in the US, including being a Veterinary Manager at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. She moved to South Africa in 2013 and is currently the NRF South African Research Chair in Animal TB at Stellenbosch University, although she is based full-time in Kruger National Park. Michele is actively involved in wildlife research, particularly focusing on TB and other zoonotic diseases at human-animal-environment interfaces, using a One Health approach.
Email: miller@sun.ac.za
Dr Munya Musvosvi
Research Officer, University of Cape Town / South African Tuberculosis Vaccine Initiative, South Africa
Munya is a TB researcher with an interest in host-pathogen interactions. His aim is to combine innovative study designs and state-of-the-art approaches to better understand the T cell response to TB to develop better vaccines and diagnostics to reduce the global burden of TB.
Dr Jairo Enrique Palomares Velosa
Post doctoral fellow, Researcher, Centro Internacional de Entrenamiento e Investigaciones Médicas (CIDEIM), Colombia
Jairo is an Early Career Researcher at CIDEIM and a participant in the Fogarty Global Infectious Disease (GID) Research Scholars program. He holds a Master of Science and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Clinical Sciences - Epidemiology from Colorado State University. Jairo’s previous work has focused on investigating the factors that impact occupational exposure to infectious agents among farm workers. His current work lies at the intersection of the social epidemiology and implementation sciences to study of the behavioural and social factors that affect prevention, transmission, and control of infectious diseases in vulnerable populations in low- and middle-income countries. Specifically, he is involved in projects that aim at improving TB contact investigation, and access to diagnosis, treatment, and support systems for STIs in sexual minorities.
Email: jepalomares@cideim.org.co
Dr Stuart Patterson
Head of Wildlife Health and Associate Dean for Postgraduate Teaching and Learning, Royal Veterinary College, UK
Stuart Patterson is a veterinarian with a background in livestock practice, postgraduate training in epidemiology and conservation medicine, and research experience in TB and wildlife vaccination strategy. He currently works at the Royal Veterinary College in London, and balance a portfolio of both teaching and research. His teaching roles include leading an undergraduate science wildlife health course, and overseeing all postgraduate teaching at the university including MSc courses in Wild Animal Health and One Health, as well as the veterinary postgraduate clinical residencies. His interests lie with determining the population impacts of poor wildlife health, and defining what factors are important to adequately gauge health, regardless of whether the rationale for these concerns comes from conservation or One Health drivers.
Email: SPatterson@rvc.ac.uk
Dr Christy Petersen
Professor of Epidemiology, University of Iowa, USA
Dr Petersen is an internationally known leader in the epidemiology, immunity, and transmission of emerging pathogens. Her ground breaking research in vaccine development and computational modeling have delineated critical determinants of vector-borne disease protection of people and animals to lessen the burden of emerging zoonotic infectious diseases across health settings.
Email: christine-petersen@uiowa.edu
Dr Frederick Quinn
Professor of Infectious Diseases, University of Georgia, USA
Frederick D Quinn, PhD, is Athletic Association Professor of Infectious Diseases, Head of the Department of Infectious Diseases in the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Georgia. Dr Quinn oversaw several laboratory groups at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta investigating bacterial disease outbreaks including Brazilian Purpuric Fever, Cat Scratch Disease, meningococcal meningitis, Buruli ulcer, and ultimately tuberculosis. Dr Quinn’s current research focuses on understanding the pathogenesis and transmission of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and M. bovis in various host species with the ultimate goal of developing improved vaccines and diagnostic tests for human and animal tuberculosis disease prevention.
Email: fquinn@uga.edu
Dr Niaina Rakotosamimanana
Head of the Mycobacteriology Unit, Pasteur Institute, Madagascar
Niaina Rakotosamimanana obtained his PhD in microbiology in 2010 from the University of Antananarivo Madagascar and the Sorbonne University, Paris, France. He has been working on TB at the Institut Pasteur de Madagascar since 2010. He is currently leading the Mycobacteriolgy Unit and is in charge of the TB research program which includes translational and operational research programs that aimed to develop new TB diagnostic tools and perform drug resistance surveillance in collaboration with the National Tuberculosis Control Program of Madagascar. He has participated in several studies of TB in animals in Madagascar, both those intended for human consumption and those of wildlife.
Email: niaina@pasteur.mg
Prof Samantha Sampson
Professor, Stellenbosch University, South Africa
Sam is a TB researcher with an interest in host-pathogen interactions. The overall goal of the Host-Pathogen Mycobactomics research group within the Mycobacteriology team is to gain a better understanding of how the pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis interacts with its host to cause disease. To achieve this, her team has used molecular mycobacteriology and in vitro infection models together with data-rich methodologies such as whole genome sequencing, transcriptomics and proteomics. Sam has a special interests in persister bacteria, PE/PPE proteins and drug resistance.
Email: ssampson@sun.ac.za
Dr Sara Savic
Senior Research Fellow, Scientific Veterinary Institute “Novi Sad”, Serbia
Sara is a veterinarian working as Head of laboratorx for serology, immunology and biochemistry at Scientific Veterinary Institute “Novi Sad” in Novi Sad, Serbia. Her work and research is based on zoonotic diseases and pathogens, including vector borne diseases and pathogens, from a One Health perspective.
Email: sara@niv.ns.ac.rs
Dr Cristian Segura-Cerda
Post doctoral fellow, CIATEJ A. C., Mexico
Dr Cristian Segura-Cerda is a Biochemist and Pharmacologist involved in the development and evaluation of the efficacy of vaccines against tuberculosis. His main experience relies on the evaluation of immunogenicity of vaccines, including immunoassays, cell immunotypification and description of humoral response and protection afforded by them at preclinical evaluations in mice. He i’s able to collaborate to perform evaluation of vaccine candidates in mouse models and the development of new vaccine candidates oriented to stimulate mucosal immunity.
Email: caseguracerda@gmail.com
Dr Rachel Tanner
Associate Professor, University of Oxford, UK
Rachel completed an undergraduate degree in Biological Sciences (Wadham College), a DPhil in Clinical Medicine (St Cross College), and a postdoctoral fellowship (Jenner Institute) all at the University of Oxford. Her research is concerned with tuberculosis (TB) in humans and cattle, with a focus on vaccine design and evaluation. In particular, she is interested in immune mechanisms/correlates of protection, characterising the humoral response to TB vaccines, and novel antigen discovery. She also has an interest in the heterologous (off-target) effects of TB vaccines and the sociological aspects of vaccinology. Her most recent work considers the effect of climate change on environmental mycobacteria and associated host immune responses. The aim of her group is to take a One Health approach to TB prevention, considering control strategies that may be applicable to humans, cattle and badgers.
Prof Bernardo Villarreal-Ramos
Ser Cymru II Professor, Aberystwyth University, UK
Prof Bernardo Villarreal-Ramos (BVR), is a cellular immunologist with more than 20 years’ experience in infection and immunity. Since 2000 he has been studying the bovine immune response to mycobacteria. He is interested in the protective immune response to mycobacteria, but also on the role the immune response may play in the development of disease, as well as the potential effect different mycobacterial infections may have in the diagnosis of bovine BTB. BVR Bernardo is a Professor of Immunology at Aberystwyth University.
Email: bev10@aber.ac.uk
Professor Robert J Wilkinson
Principal Group Leader and Professor in Infectious Diseases, Francis Crick Institute, Imperial College London and University of Cape Town, UK
Robert J Wilkinson is a Principal Group Leader at The Francis Crick Institute, professor in Infectious Diseases at Imperial College London and Honorary Professor and Director, Centre for Infectious Diseases Research in Africa at the University of Cape Town. His research interest is in understanding and intervening in tuberculosis and HIV-tuberculosis with special emphasis on the progression of early tuberculosis and the pathogenesis of severe disseminated disease
Email: Robert.Wilkinson@Crick.ac.uk
Dr Cate Williams
Post Doctoral researcher, Aberystwyth University, UK
Cate is an early career researcher who completed her PhD in ruminant gut microbiology and metaomics at Aberystwyth University. She spent two years teaching in postgraduate distance learning and working as a KE fellow for Farming Connect. She is currently working as a PDRA at the Centre of Excellence in Bovine TB at Aberystwyth University. The project uses existing WGS data to map the population structure of M. bovis in Wales. From the dataset, SNPs of interest have been selected for functional characterisation using classical recombineering and specialised transduction in M. bovis BCG and M. bovis. The project places emphasis on SNP effects on host-pathogen interactions which will be evaluated in vitro. This work will phenotypically characterise variants of concern, the results of which will be used to improve M. bovis control strategies in Wales.
Email: clw30@aber.ac.uk
