CAPRISA post-doc Fellow to pursue antibody study
Dr Gugulethu Mzobe, a postdoctoral research fellow at CAPRISA, was awarded a research grant from the Poliomyelitis Research Foundation [PRF] for a three-year period.
Mzobe who is under the mentorship of CAPRISA scientist Dr Sinaye Ngcapu in the Mucosal Immunology Laboratory will conduct research on the use of an ex vivo human cervical explant model to explore the HIV prevention capabilities of CAP256-VRC26.25LS on its own and in combination with VRC07-523LS or PGT121. This study could help to explain the “key biological factors mediating effective antibody blocking of HIV-1 infection in human mucosal tissue,” explained Mzobe.
This may have important “implications for bNAbs as a viable alternative to ARV-based HIV prevention,” she said.