KRISP Team

We challenge the status quo by attracting, training & retaining both top African scientists that understand the problem from the ground level & the best international minds that are committed to solve some of the biggest global health problems in Africa.

KRISP faculty and staff at the Strategic meeting 2020 in the Drakensberg

KRISP Strategy 2020 meeting in the Drakensberg: From left botton: Khulekani Sedwell Khanyile, Werner Smidt, Tulio de Oliveira, Mitsuaki Andrew Tomita, Zethu Luthuli, Stacey Mattison, Gugulethu Cynthia Mkhize, Jennifer Giandhari, Sureshnee Pillay, Suzette Grobler, Lavanya Singh, Yumna Moosa. From top left: Veron Ramsuran , Paul Hashtag, Akshay N Prabhushankar, Emmanuel James San, Bonginhlanhla Ernest Mbambo, Richard Lessells, Eduan Wilkinson, Benjamin Chimukangara, Aquillah Kanzi and Sibusiso Blessing Khanyase.

Current Team:

Prof. Beatriz Garcia de la Torre

De la Torre's research interests are in the chemistry of peptides, nucleotides, peptide nucleic acids and method development. She is a Senior Research Associate at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra's Proteomics and Protein Chemistry Unit in Barcelona. She has a long-standing commitment to peptide chemistry and applications of bioactive peptides, and has expanded her activities into the field of proteomics.


Prof. Tulio de Oliveira

My research interests concentrate on viral evolution under selection pressure created in the transmission, acquisition, and drug escape processes. A particular point of interest is on the study of viruses's origins and the effect of the network of transmissions in the spread of epidemics in Africa and other continents. I also enjoy developing bioinformatics software applications and running a next-generation sequencing (NGS) and innovation research centre.


Mlungisi Thabiso Dlamini

PhD Research Fellow. Research interests in TB genomics and transmission of drug-resistant tuberculosis.


Dr. Maryam Fish

Post-doctoral research fellow focusing on human genomics.


Dr Vagner Fonseca

My research interests concentrate on viral evolution under selection pressure created in the transmission, NGS of 2nd and 3rd generation sequencing. A particular point of interest is the study of viruses' origins and the effect of the network of transmissions in the spread of epidemics in Brazil and other continents. I also enjoy developing bioinformatics software to make users' lives more conformable with a more user-friendly interface application.


Dr Inbal Gazy

My research interests focus on human genetic diseases.


Dr. Jennifer Giandhari

Post-doctoral researcher fellow. Research interests in HIV-1 genomics and drug resistance.


Dr. Aquillah Kanzi

Dr Aquillah Kanzi is a post-doctoral research fellow at KRISP and works within the Bioinformatics and Genetics Unit.


Khulekani Khanyile

PhD Student at KRISP working on genomic analysis of viral outbreaks. I am Khulekani Khanyile, holding a Master's degree in Genetics from the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN). Through my MSC studies, I contributed three scientific publications to the international scientific community.


Dr. Richard Lessells

Completed a Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Fellowship and PhD at LSHTM, U.K. Clinical Infectious Diseases Specialist with interests in HIV & TB drug resistance, epidemiology and clinical management


Zethu Luthuli

I am the Project Coordinator at CERI. I joined CERI in 2021 and I am response for the administrative projects’ coordination, communicating with and assisting postgrad students and post-doctoral fellows, procurement (procuring of goods and services), Grants Management & Finance admin support.


Gugulethu Cynthia Mkhize

Senior Scientific Grants Manager at KRISP.


Dr. Yumna Moosa

PhD/MSc student. Research interests in viromics, bioinformatics and mathematics.


Farirai Mutenherwa

My PhD focuses on the social, ethical and legal issues associated with using pathogen data to link infections, in particular, using phylogenetic analysis results as evidence to prove HIV transmission


Dr Yeshnee Naidoo

Laboratory Manager at CERI. My main interest is HIV Drug resistance in South Africa and translational research to implement activities designed to make precision medicine technologies available to the public.


Sureshnee Pillay

Completed her MSc in 2014. Currently at Africa Centre for Health and Population Studies.


Upasana Ramphal

Masters in Medical Sciences student. My present research is in host genetics and virology, with focus on Human Leukocyte Antigen (specifically HLA-B) expression levels and its association with HIV disease outcomes.


Dr Emmanuel James San

San James is Pursuing a PhD in Medicine, Majoring in Virology and a Bioinformatics Research Associate at the Kwazulu Natal Research and Innovation Sequencing Platform (KRISP). Research interests are in the areas of Bioinformatics Software and Pipelines Development, Next Generation Sequence Data Management and Analysis, and High Performance Computing for Data Intensive Projects


Dr. Lavanya Singh

Molecular techniques in infectious disease diagnostics, HIV drug resistance


Dr. Houriiyah Tegally

Houriiyah Tegally holds a PhD in Virology & Bioinformatics and is currently Head of Data Science at the Centre for Epidemic Response and Innovation (CERI) at Stellenbosch University in South Africa, focusing on the genomic epidemiology and evolution of viral pathogens South Africa and Africa.


Dr. Andrew Tomita

Senior Lecturer: School of Nursing and Public Health, UKZN. Research interest is in social epidemiology, focusing on health services strengthening and social determinants of HIV, TB and mental health in sub-Saharan Africa.


Dr Laura Yates

Dr Laura M. Yates is a Clinical Genetics Specialist at KRISP and an Honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer at the University of KwaaZulu-Natal. Her research interests are in developmental and renal genetics, and teratology.



KRISP has been created by the coordinated effort of the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), the Technology Innovation Agency (TIA) and the South African Medical Research Countil (SAMRC).


Location: K-RITH Tower Building
Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine, UKZN
719 Umbilo Road, Durban, South Africa.
Director: Prof. Tulio de Oliveira