Thumbi Ndung’u is a Kenyan-born

HIV/AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual ...

researcher. He is the deputy director (Science) and
Max Planck Research Group
Leader at th
Africa Health Research Institute (AHRI)
in

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. He is Professor of Infectious Diseases in th
Division of Immunity and Infection, University College London
He is Professor an
Victor Daitz
Chair in HIV/TB Research and Scientific Director of th
HIV Pathogenesis Programme (HPP)
at th
Nelson R. Mandela School of Medicine

University of KwaZulu-Natal The University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) is a university with five campuses in the province of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. It was formed on 1 January 2004 after the merger between the University of Natal and the University of Durban-Westville. ...

. He holds the South African Research Chair in

Systems Biology Systems biology is the computational modeling, computational and mathematical analysis and modeling of complex biological systems. It is a biology-based interdisciplinary field of study that focuses on complex interactions within biological syst ...

of HIV/AIDS. He is an Adjunct Professor of

Immunology Immunology is a branch of medicineImmunology for Medical Students, Roderick Nairn, Matthew Helbert, Mosby, 2007 and biology that covers the medical study of immune systems in humans, animals, plants and sapient species. In such we can see there ...

and

Infectious Diseases An infection is the invasion of tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmissible disease or communicable dise ...

at the

Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health is the public health school of Harvard University, located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. The school grew out of the Harvard-MIT School for Health Officers, the nation's first ...

. He is the Programme Director of th
Sub-Saharan African Network for TB/HIV Research Excellence (SANTHE)
a research and capacity building initiative funded by the

African Academy of Sciences The African Academy of Sciences (AAS) is a non-aligned, non-political, not-for-profit, pan-African learned society formed in 1985. The AAS elects fellows ( FAAS) and affiliates. The AAS also awards the Obasanjo Prize for Scientific Discovery and ...

and the

Wellcome Trust The Wellcome Trust is a charitable foundation focused on health research based in London, in the United Kingdom. It was established in 1936 with legacies from the pharmaceutical magnate Henry Wellcome (founder of one of the predecessors of Glaxo ...

. Ndung’u attended Gathugu Primary School in

Kiambu Kiambu is a town in Kiambu County, Kenya within the Nairobi Metropolitan Region. It is from the capital Nairobi. It has an population of 147,870. It is the capital of the Kiambu County, which bounds the northern border of Nairobi. Other proxi ...

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

and

Nyeri Nyeri is a town situated in the Central Highlands of Kenya. It is the county headquarters of Nyeri County. The town was the central administrative headquarters of the country's former Central Province. Following the dissolution of the former pr ...

High School, Nyeri, Kenya. He graduated with a Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine degree from the

University of Nairobi , mottoeng = In unity and work , image = Uon emblem.gif , image_size = 210px , caption = Coat of Arms of the University , type = Public , endowment ...

, Kenya, and obtained a PhD in Biological Sciences in Public Health from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

, United States. As a graduate student, he worked with

Max Essex Myron Elmer "Max" Essex (born August 17, 1939) is the Mary Woodard Lasker Professor of Health Sciences, emeritus in the Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases at Harvard University, Chair of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Hea ...

at Harvar. He was also a Postdoctoral Fellow in Virology at

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the graduate medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is one of the oldest medical schools in the United States and is consi ...

. He is a member of the

Academy of Science of South Africa The Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf) is the national science academy in South Africa. It was started in 1996, and encompasses all fields of scientific work. Its legal foundation is the ''Academy of Science of South Africa Act'', Act 67 ...

(ASSAf) and a fellow of the

(AAS). He has been a member of the External Advisory Board of the

HIV Vaccine Trials Network The HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN) is a non-profit organization which connects physicians and scientists with activists and community educators for the purpose of conducting clinical trials seeking a safe and effective HIV vaccine. Collaborativ ...

(HVTN), a member of the Scientific Advisory Committee of th
Cape Town HVTN Immunology Laboratory
(CHIL), a member of the Scientific Advisory Panel of th
Poliomyelitis Research Foundation
and a member of the advisory board of the Global Health and Vaccination Research Programme ( GLOBVAC), The Research Council of Norway. He was co-chair of the Young and Early Career Investigators Committee (YECIC) of the

Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise The Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise (the Enterprise) is an alliance of organizations formed to accelerate the search for an HIV vaccine. Initially proposed in Science magazine in 2003 and developed by scientists, health experts and policy makers, t ...

from 2008 to 2010 that worked on the Enterprise's five-year strategic plan. Ndung’u was the first scientist to clone infectious HIV subtype C and has received numerous awards for his scientific and scholarly contributions. The awards include: * Jun 2001
Edgar Haber Award
(

) in recognition of “outstanding, original and creative thesis work that makes a fundamental contribution to our understanding of a biological problem important to public health.” * Feb 2007
Vice-Chancellor’s Research Award

in recognition of “exceptional research and research related scholarly activities.” * Jan 2012 -

Howard Hughes Medical Institute The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) is an American non-profit medical research organization based in Chevy Chase, Maryland. It was founded in 1953 by Howard Hughes, an American business magnate, investor, record-setting pilot, engineer, fil ...

’s International Early Career Scientist Award. * Oct 2017 -

South African Medical Research Council The South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) is a para-statal medical research organisation in South Africa. The current president is professor Glenda Gray. The South African Medical Research Council was established in 1969 to act as an indep ...

br>Gold Scientific Achievement Award
Gold medals are awarded to established senior scientists who have made seminal scientific contributions that have impacted on the health of people. * Nov 2018 - Research Excellence Award at the South African Health Excellence Awards. The award ceremony celebrated excellence in healthcare by identifying leaders in medicine who have contributed to research, teaching and advancement of medicine in South Africa. His research interests are host-pathogen interactions, particularly immune mechanisms of

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...

and TB control. He has co-authored more than 200 manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals. He has made seminal contributions on our understanding of how virus-host interactions lead to immune-mediated mechanisms of HIV control, which has implications for immune-based

prophylactic Preventive healthcare, or prophylaxis, consists of measures taken for the purposes of disease prevention.Hugh R. Leavell and E. Gurney Clark as "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life, and promoting physical and mental hea ...

and

therapeutic A therapy or medical treatment (often abbreviated tx, Tx, or Tx) is the attempted remediation of a health problem, usually following a medical diagnosis. As a rule, each therapy has indications and contraindications. There are many different ...

strategies against the virus. He has received grant funding from the South African National Research Foundation, the

, the

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), a merging of the William H. Gates Foundation and the Gates Learning Foundation, is an American private foundation founded by Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates. Based in Seattle, Washington, it was ...

, the

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in the late ...

, the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

, the

and the

among others. He is leading a multidisciplinary team of researchers working in the fields of HIV and T
immunopathogenesis

vaccine A vaccine is a biological Dosage form, preparation that provides active acquired immunity to a particular infectious disease, infectious or cancer, malignant disease. The safety and effectiveness of vaccines has been widely studied and verifie ...

development and

immune In biology, immunity is the capability of multicellular organisms to resist harmful microorganisms. Immunity involves both specific and nonspecific components. The nonspecific components act as barriers or eliminators of a wide range of pathogens ...

-based

functional cure strategies. He has special interest in capacity building for

biomedical Biomedicine (also referred to as Western medicine, mainstream medicine or conventional medicine)

research in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

See also

References

Further reading