Dr. Lufuno Mavhandu-Ramarumo obtained a doctorate in Microbiology specializing in molecular virology from the University of Venda in 2014. In the course of her postgraduate training she had research fellowships at the Myles H. Thaler Center for AIDS and Human Retrovirus Research, University of Virginia, USA and at J. Craig Venter Institute, Maryland USA. She has been the recipient of the Pfizer International Fellowship Initiative; bursary and mobility grant from the National Research Foundation, and the South African AIDS Vaccine Initiative. In 2010, she was awarded the DST/TATA South African Women in Science Award, in the Young Scientist category. In 2015, she received training in grant management from the National Institutes of Health, USA.
Dr. Mavhandu-Ramarumo’s research interest is on molecular genetics with a focus on the molecular basis of HIV drug resistance and its implications on the efficacy and sustainability of first line antiretroviral therapy. She is also interested in the preclinical evaluation of compounds for anti HIV properties. She has co-authored several peer reviewed articles in reputable journals such AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses, Archives of Virology, and South African Medical Journal. She is an awardee of the Thuthuka-NRF programme to investigate biomarkers of adherence to antiretrovirals, and to the phenotypic significance of observed but uncharacterized mutations that arise in HIV-1 subtype C upon drug exposure. She is the co-principal investigator of an MRC funded project on drug resistance in Limpopo Province.
Contact:
Tel: 015 962 8962
Email: lufuno.mavhandu@univen.ac.za
