Kasmira Gopee

Kasmira Gopee completed her Bachelor’s and Honours degrees in Medical Sciences at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), followed by a Master of Medical Sciences in HIV virology at the HIV Pathogenesis Programme, in Durban, South Africa.

Her master’s research focused on the genetic heterogeneity of the HIV latent reservoir, specifically analysing proviral long terminal repeat (LTR) variation across blood-derived cellular reservoirs in people living with HIV. She also investigated how these genetic differences affect proviral function and responsiveness to latency-reversing agents.

She is currently pursuing a PhD focused on immune responses to HIV infection in mucosal and lymphoid tissues. Her work aims to understand persistent CD4⁺ T-cell depletion in the gastrointestinal tract despite antiretroviral therapy, and to investigate how the HIV latent reservoir contributes to gut immune dysregulation. Using approaches such as spatial mapping and single-cell transcriptomics, her research seeks to identify where HIV persists in gut tissues and how it behaves, with the goal of informing strategies to restore immune function and support HIV cure efforts.