Thumbi Ndung’u is a Kenyan

HIV/AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

researcher. He is the Director for Basic and Translational Science and
Max Planck Research Group
Leader at th
Africa Health Research Institute (AHRI)
in

KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN) is a Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the government merged the Zulu people, Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu language, Zulu) and ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. He is Professor of Infectious Diseases in th
Division of Immunity and Infection, University College London
He is Professor an
Victor Daitz
Chair in HIV/TB Research and Scientific Director of th
HIV Pathogenesis Programme (HPP)
at th
Nelson R. Mandela School of Medicine

University of KwaZulu-Natal The University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN; , ) is a public research university with five campuses in the province of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. It was formed on 1 January 2004 after the merger between the University of Natal and the University ...

. He holds the South African Research Chair in

Systems Biology Systems biology is the computational modeling, computational and mathematical analysis and modeling of complex biological systems. It is a biology-based interdisciplinary field of study that focuses on complex interactions within biological system ...

of HIV/AIDS. He is an adjunct professor of

Immunology Immunology is a branch of biology and medicine that covers the study of Immune system, immune systems in all Organism, organisms. Immunology charts, measures, and contextualizes the Physiology, physiological functioning of the immune system in ...

and

Infectious Diseases infection is the invasion of tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmissible disease or communicable dise ...

at the

Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health is the public health school at Harvard University, located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. It was named after Hong Kong entrepreneur Chan Tseng-hsi in 2014 following a US$350 ...

. He is the Programme Director of th
Sub-Saharan African Network for TB/HIV Research Excellence (SANTHE)
a research and capacity building initiative led by Africa Health Research Institute, and funded by the

African Academy of Sciences The African Academy of Sciences (AAS) is a non-aligned, non-political, not-for-profit, pan-African learned society formed in 1985. The AAS elects fellows ( FAAS) and affiliates. The AAS also awards the Obasanjo Prize for Scientific Discovery a ...

and the

Wellcome Trust The Wellcome Trust is a charitable foundation focused on health research based in London, United Kingdom. It was established in 1936 with legacies from the pharmaceutical magnate Henry Wellcome (founder of Burroughs Wellcome, one of the predec ...

. Ndung’u attended Gathugu Primary School in

Kiambu Kiambu is a town in Kiambu County, Kenya. It is from the national capital, Nairobi. It is the capital of Kiambu County, which bounds the northern border of Nairobi. Other proximate towns are Ruiru, Gatundu, Limuru and Kabete. Administr ...

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

and

Nyeri Nyeri is a town situated in the Central Highlands of Kenya. It is the county headquarters of Nyeri County and was the central administrative headquarters of the country's former Central Province (Kenya), Central Province. The town is situated a ...

High School, Nyeri, Kenya. He graduated with a Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine degree from the

University of Nairobi The University of Nairobi (uonbi or UoN; ) is a college, collegiate research university based in Nairobi and is the largest List of universities and colleges in Kenya, university in Kenya. Although its history as an educational institution dat ...

, Kenya, and obtained a PhD in Biological Sciences in Public Health from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

, United States. As a graduate student, he worked with

Max Essex Myron Elmer "Max" Essex (born August 17, 1939) is the Mary Woodard Lasker Professor of Health Sciences, emeritus in the department of immunology and infectious diseases at Harvard University, chair of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public He ...

at Harvard. He was also a Postdoctoral Fellow in Virology at

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area, Longwood Medical Area in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is the third oldest medical school in the Un ...

. He is a member of the

Academy of Science of South Africa The Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf) is the national science academy in South Africa. It was started in 1996, and encompasses all fields of scientific work. Its legal foundation is the ''Academy of Science of South Africa Act'', Act ...

(ASSAf) and a fellow of the

(AAS). He has been a member of the External Advisory Board of the

HIV Vaccine Trials Network The HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN) is a non-profit organization which connects physicians and scientists with activists and community educators for the purpose of conducting clinical trials seeking a safe and effective HIV vaccine. Collaborati ...

(HVTN), a member of the Scientific Advisory Committee of th
Cape Town HVTN Immunology Laboratory
(CHIL), a member of the Scientific Advisory Panel of th
Poliomyelitis Research Foundation
and a member of the advisory board of the Global Health and Vaccination Research Programme ( GLOBVAC), The Research Council of Norway. He was co-chair of the Young and Early Career Investigators Committee (YECIC) of the

Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise The Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise (the Enterprise) is an alliance of organizations formed to accelerate the search for an HIV vaccine. Initially proposed in Science magazine in 2003 and developed by scientists, health experts and policy makers, t ...

from 2008 to 2010 that worked on the Enterprise's five-year strategic plan. Ndung’u was the first scientist to clone infectious HIV subtype C and has received numerous awards for his scientific and scholarly contributions. The awards include: * Jun 2001
Edgar Haber Award
(

) in recognition of “outstanding, original and creative thesis work that makes a fundamental contribution to our understanding of a biological problem important to public health.” * Feb 2007
Vice-Chancellor’s Research Award

in recognition of “exceptional research and research related scholarly activities.” * Jan 2012 -

Howard Hughes Medical Institute The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) is an American non-profit medical research organization headquartered in Chevy Chase, Maryland with additional facilities in Ashburn, Virginia. It was founded in 1953 by Howard Hughes, an American busin ...

’s International Early Career Scientist Award. * Oct 2017 -

South African Medical Research Council The South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) is a para-statal medical research organisation in South Africa. The current president is professor Ntobeko Ntusi. The South African Medical Research Council was established in 1969 to act as an ...

br>Gold Scientific Achievement Award
Gold medals are awarded to established senior scientists who have made seminal scientific contributions that have impacted on the health of people. * Nov 2018 - Research Excellence Award at the South African Health Excellence Awards. The award ceremony celebrated excellence in healthcare by identifying leaders in medicine who have contributed to research, teaching and advancement of medicine in South Africa. His research interests are host-pathogen interactions, particularly immune mechanisms of

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of '' Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the im ...

and TB control. He has co-authored more than 200 manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals. He has made seminal contributions on our understanding of how virus-host interactions lead to immune-mediated mechanisms of HIV control, which has implications for immune-based

prophylactic Preventive healthcare, or prophylaxis, is the application of healthcare measures to prevent diseases.Hugh R. Leavell and E. Gurney Clark as "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life, and promoting physical and mental health a ...

and

therapeutic A therapy or medical treatment is the attempted remediation of a health problem, usually following a medical diagnosis. Both words, ''treatment'' and ''therapy'', are often abbreviated tx, Tx, or Tx. As a rule, each therapy has indications an ...

strategies against the virus. He has received grant funding from the

South African National Research Foundation South Africa’s National Research Foundation (NRF) is the intermediary agency between the policies and strategies of the Government of South Africa and South Africa's research institutions. History It was established on 1 April 1999 as an ...

, the

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation The Gates Foundation is an American private foundation founded by Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates. Based in Seattle, Washington, it was launched in 2000 and is reported to be List of wealthiest charitable foundations, the third largest char ...

, the

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in 1887 and is part of the United States Department of Health and Human Service ...

, the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

, the

and the

among others. He is leading a multidisciplinary team of researchers working in the fields of HIV and T
immunopathogenesis

vaccine A vaccine is a biological Dosage form, preparation that provides active acquired immunity to a particular infectious disease, infectious or cancer, malignant disease. The safety and effectiveness of vaccines has been widely studied and verifi ...

development and

immune In biology, immunity is the state of being insusceptible or resistant to a noxious agent or process, especially a pathogen or infectious disease. Immunity may occur naturally or be produced by prior exposure or immunization. Innate and adaptive ...

-based

functional cure strategies. He has special interest in capacity building for

biomedical Biomedicine (also referred to as Western medicine, mainstream medicine or conventional medicine)

research in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

See also

References

Further reading