Dr. Tshepo Leeme (Botswana-Harvard Partnership)

MSc Epidemiology (2017 – 2018)

Tshepo joined the AMBITION team at BHP in January 2017 as a Study Doctor, arriving in London in September 2017. She returned to Gaborone in August 2018 to complete her MSc summer project on the utility of CD4 monitoring in both ART-exposed and unexposed individuals.

The main aim of her project was to assess whether routine CD4 testing in all HIV positive individuals played a role in the era of “treat all”, and in a setting where viral load testing is widely accessible. She presented her work at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) in Seattle in March 2019.

“Apart from the harsh winter, I really enjoyed my stay in London. The lecturers and facilitators had a wealth of knowledge and experience in their field. The teaching was of an exceptionally high standard and we were fortunate enough to have had the opportunity to apply the knowledge we had gained through practical lab work. During my time at LSHTM, I was able to develop my academic writing and research development skills, which will doubtless serve me well in the future as a clinical researcher. The course also allowed me to meet incredible new peers and make lifelong friends. The AMBITION team at LSHTM were very supportive during my time at the school and all in all, ensured that I had a comfortable stay whilst in London.”

Dr. Kenneth Ssebambulidde (IDI Uganda)

MSc Immunology of Infectious Diseases (2018 – 2019)

Before taking a year out to pursue his MSc in London, Kenneth worked as an AMBITION study doctor in Kampala. He graduated with a Distinction in February 2020, and since returning to Uganda his career has gone from strength to strength.

Kenneth presented the results of his MSc thesis at the International Union of Immunological Societies training week in Benin in November 2019, and won first prize in the poster competition. He was subsequently selected for the prestigious four-year African Postdoctoral Training Initiative funded by the African Academy of Sciences, in partnership with the US National Institutes of Health and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Kenneth will relocate to Maryland in June 2021. He will be based in the NIH laboratories for two years and will investigate the host immune response to Cryptococcus in a non-HIV-infected patient population. He will then return to Uganda in 2023 for two further years of research at IDI.

In January 2021 Kenneth was awarded funding of almost $100,000 from the African Academy of Science and the Alliance for Accelerating Excellence in Science in Africa to oversee a two-year study in Uganda which builds on his MSc research project, investigating the effect of maternal and neonatal cholesterol levels on neonatal infections.

Janet Zambezi (UNC Project Malawi)

MSc Immunology of Infectious Diseases (2019 – 2020)

Prior to commencing her MSc in September 2019, Janet worked for two years on various studies as a Lab Technician in the Cell Processing department at UNC Project Malawi. She completed her degree in September 2020.