Mahlatse Maseeme

Mahlatse Maseeme started his academic studies at Witwatersrand University in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 2016, where he completed both Bachelor of Science (BSc) and Bachelor of Health Sciences Honours (BHSc) degrees. He went on to join AHRI in 2021 for his master’s degree, graduating cum laude. He studied immunometabolism in Tuberculosis (TB) and HIV. Metabolism is key for living cells, as it provides energy and biosynthetic precursors for both resting and optimal effector functioning of immune cells; therefore, understanding the role of immunometabolism during TB and TB-HIV co-infections has the potential to uncover biomarkers for treatment response and diagnosis. For his PhD he is studying immune correlates of protection against Mycobacterial tuberculosis (Mtb). Many individuals in the world are exposed to TB, yet they are without active TB diseases, indicating an existence of immunity that is protective against Mtb infection; therefore, uncovering these immune-protective patterns will potentially aid in the development of a TB vaccine and prevention.