Name: Dr Jomien Mouton
Goes by: Jomien
Place: Stellenbosch University, South Africa
Career Level: Researcher
Research Key Words: Tuberculosis, persistence, host-pathogen interactions, heterogeneity, Gallant J, Mouton J et al, in NAR Genomics and Bioinformatics
Likes: I love discovering more about the heterogeneity within bacterial populations and macrophages containing M. tuberculosis, how this contributes to bacterial persistence and its impact on vaccine development, diagnosis and treatment outcome.
Dislikes: Working with small bacterial numbers (persisters) - but it is totally worth it!
Profile: I work on identifying latency-associated antigens and biosignatures associated with latent M. tuberculosis by using a combination of fluorescence dilution, fluorescence-activated cell sorting and dual RNA-sequencing to characterise macrophages containing actively growing and non-growing persistent mycobacteria.
My perfect research partner: I am interested in collaborations with researchers from different countries that are interested in persistent infections, the ability of persistent bacteria to survive harsh host-environments, host-responses to persistent bacteria and bacterial and host cell heterogeneity. I am specifically interested in collaborations that could expand and improve my skills in RNAsequencing analyses (dual-RNAseq). I would also be interested in any collaboration of similar research across pathogens.