Thumbi Ndung’u is an Investigator and Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology Research Group Leader at the KwaZulu-Natal Research Institute for Tuberculosis and HIV (K-RITH). He is Professor and Victor Daitz Chair in HIV/TB Research and Director of the HIV Pathogenesis Programme (HPP) at the Nelson R. Mandela School of Medicine, University of KwaZulu-Natal. He holds the South African Research Chair in Systems Biology of HIV/AIDS. He is also a Howard Hughes Medical Institute International Early Career Scientist. He graduated with a Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine degree from the University of Nairobi, Kenya, and obtained a PhD in Biological Sciences in Public Health (Virology) from Harvard University, United States.
His research interests are host-pathogen interactions, especially antiviral immune responses. He is leading a multidisciplinary team of researchers working in the fields of HIV and TB pathogenesis and vaccine development. He has special interest in capacity building for biomedical research in Africa.
