Dr. Fiona van den Berg
Dr. van den Berg is a postdoctoral research fellow exploring the use of biological nanoparticles as delivery vehicles for antibodies against HIV. Her current work involves a collaboration between the Morris lab at the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) and the Antiviral Gene Therapy Research Unit (AGTRU) at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits). Fiona completed her PhD at Wits in the field of gene therapy, investigating RNA interference (RNAi) strategies to combat HIV infection and has presented at several local and international conferences. Her research in alternative gene therapy strategies for the treatment of HIV is currently focussed on potent and broadly neutralising antibodies isolated from donors of the Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA). It is hoped that the successful delivery of such antibodies using biological nanoparticles could provide effective prophylaxis against HIV and significantly reduce infection rates.