Jo-Ann Passmore PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Institute for Infectious Diseases and Molecular Medicine (IDM), University of Cape Town and Principle Medical Scientist with the National Health Laboratory Services. She heads the Mucosal Infections Group (MIG) in the Division of Medical Virology. Her research focuses on the role of genital tract inflammation and cellular activation on HIV risk in women, associated with sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and bacterial vaginosis (BV). Jo-Ann has translated these findings into innovative low-cost point of care biomedical devices to improve STI and BV case finding in resource limited settings, and harnessing the vaginal microbiome from healthy women to improve reproductive health in Africa through development of live biotherapeutic products for BV treatment. She has published over 110 papers on mucosal immune responses and inflammation associated with HIV risk and progression.
