Dr Zandile C. Mlamla is a post-doctoral research fellow in the Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine (IDM), University of Cape Town (UCT) in Professor Jonathan M. Blackburn’s Research Group. Her project is currently aimed towards the validation of urinary biomarkers of Tuberculosis Disease. She recently completed her doctoral degree in Chemical Biology from the Department of Integrative Biomedical Sciences in the same institute. 

 

Her project focused on differential profiling of Mycobacterium tuberculosisgenotypic strains and urine of TB suspects for “bio-signatures” of TB disease through Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (QTOF). During her PhD, with support from the Fogarty Foundation and UCT, she tenured at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School under the mentorship of Professor Branch D. Moody. Here she was trained in cellular lipid profiling using a Q-TOF mass spectrometer, as well as three ion-trapping instruments for targeted Lipidomics.

 

She continues to gain experience and expertise in the cutting-edge field of MS-based lipidomics. She is involved in collaborative projects integrating MS-based Proteomics and Metabolomics. She has recently been integrated into the Mass Spectrometry Core-Facility at the IDM. To read more click here. 

 

Her long-term goal is to continue to promote metabolomics research by being part of its growth and development at UCT.