Harriet Mayanja-Kizza

Harriet Mayanja-Kizza is a Professor of Medicine at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda, and a principal investigator on multiple studies focused on tuberculosis (TB) immunology, diagnostics, and clinical research.

Her work includes TB immune diagnostics and clinical trials aimed at identifying sensitive and specific immune biomarkers that can be used to triage suspected TB cases in public health settings. She also investigates surrogate immune markers for early TB disease, with relevance for both diagnosis and vaccine development, particularly in identifying pre-clinical stages of TB.

A key area of her research examines resistance to Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection among close contacts of pulmonary TB patients. Using blood and bronchial lavage samples, she studies host immune factors that influence susceptibility or protection against active TB disease in high-burden settings. Her overall research contributes to a deeper understanding of host-pathogen interactions and supports improved TB prevention, diagnosis, and control strategies in endemic regions.