Judie Magura

Judie Magura is a Research Associate at the Africa Health Research Institute (AHRI) in Durban, South Africa. Her research focuses on understanding immune responses to viral infections, with particular emphasis on HIV, which continues to disproportionately affect young women in Africa. Her work centres on the behaviour of antibody-producing B cells during HIV infection and treatment. She studies how these cells evolve and function, and in rare cases, how they may contribute to viral control without antiretroviral therapy. Through this, she aims to identify immune features that could inform the development of durable therapies and contribute to the pursuit of a functional cure for HIV.

Her research highlights the importance of studying immune responses in African populations, whose genetic, environmental and infectious disease exposures differ from those commonly represented in global datasets. She has trained across multiple disciplines, including chemistry, cancer biology and immunology, and collaborates with international institutions such as Kenya AIDS Vaccine Initiative (KAVI), Institute of Clinical Research (ICR), International Vaccine AIDS Initiative (IAVI), the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and Scripps Research. She is committed to strengthening immunology research capacity in Africa and advancing evidence that is representative of and beneficial to the populations most affected by infectious diseases.