LINDI MASSON – (BI; TEAM LEAD; Co-Pl)
lindi.masson@gmail.com

Lindi is a Senior Research Fellow and Head of the HIV, Inflammation and Microbiome Working Group at BI in Australia. She also leads a research group in IDM at UCT, is an Honorary Scientist at CAPRISA and Adjunct Senior Lecturer at Monash University in Australia. The primary focus of Lindi’s work is to understand the factors associated with risk of HIV acquisition and adverse reproductive outcomes in women and to develop tools to reduce this risk. Lindi has contributed to 47 publications in international peer-reviewed journals and holds one international patent.Lindi is a recipient of grants from the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council, National Institutes of Health, European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership, South African Medical Research Council Strategic Health Innovation Partnerships, among others.

DAVID ANDERSON – (BI)
david.anderson@burnet.edu.au

Associate Professor (A/Prof) David Anderson is Deputy Director (Partnerships) at the Burnet Institute in Melbourne, Australia. Trained as a Microbiologist and a Molecular Virologist, his research focus has evolved from understanding the structure and assembly of hepatitis viruses, to the use of this information to design better diagnostics, vaccines and antiviral therapies to control viral infections in humans. A/Prof Anderson has a particular interest in translational research, and has been involved in the establishment of a number of Burnet spinoff companies. To date, he is an inventor of 12 patent families and he is an expert in the development of novel rapid diagnostic point-of-care tests, including the VISITECT® CD4 Advanced Disease test now endorsed by the WHO.

MONALISA MANHANZVA – (UCT)
monalisa.manhanzva@uct.ac.za

Monalisa is originally from Zimbabwe where she attained her Honors’ and Masters’ degrees at the University of Zimbabwe. Her MSc project was focused on detection of HIV drug resistance mutations in infants born to mothers who participated in the PMTCT of HIV programme in Zimbabwe. In 2016, she joined the UCT for her PhD studies with her project involving the isolation and characterisation of cervicovaginal Lactobacillus isolates and their capacity to inhibit HIV and dysbiotic bacteria. She is currently investigating how pre-existing inflammation in the female genital tract influences HIV acquisition risk in South African women who are using long-acting contraceptives.