IN CONVERSATION WITH Dr Kristie Bloom ON SCIENCE WISE

Dr Kristie Bloom is a scientist at the Wits/SAMRC Antiviral Gene Therapy Research Unit at the University of the Witwatersrand. Her research focuses on nextgeneration vaccine technologies, particularly mRNA-based vaccines for tuberculosis. She works on understanding how specialised immune responses, especially tissue-resident memory T-cells in the lungs, can improve protection against TB infection. Her work forms part of broader efforts to strengthen African-led biomedical innovation and develop locally relevant vaccine solutions for major infectious diseases.