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Members

Prof. Ambroise Wonkam (Principal Investigator/Co-Principal Investigator)

On PubMed
Prof. Wonkam is a Professor of medical genetics, Director of GeneMAP (Genetic Medicine of African Populations) at the Faculty of Health Sciences University of Cape Town, South Africa. After a MD training from the Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Yaoundé I (Cameroon), he completed a thesis in Cell Biology in the department of Morphology , University of Geneva (Switzerland) and a PhD in Human Genetics (University of Cape Town South Africa). Other salient aspects of Prof Wonkam’s background include his education as a medical geneticist at a highly reputable genetics department in Geneva (Switzerland). He subsequently practices medical genetics in both European and African contexts. His research interests and international recognition by the academic community are reflected in > 170 peer-reviewed publications which are in molecular, clinical, educational and ethical aspects of medical and human genetics. His research focuses on 1) Psychosocial Burden and Genomics modifiers of Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) 2) Genetics of hearing loss and 3) Ethical and educational Issues in human genetics in Africa
Prof. Wonkam has been investigating numerous monogenic conditions of High burden in Africa, e.g. Sickle cell disease and inheritable hearing Impairment in Africa with focus on the use of genetics in public health intervention. He has introduced the practice of prenatal genetic diagnosis of SCD in both Cameroon and South Africa (Cape Town). He has a traceable record of studying psychosocial burden of SCD and genomic factors that affect the SCD phenotype, specifically studying HbF-promoting loci and co-inheritance of SCD and alpha-thalassemia in Cameroon and genomic variants affecting Kidney Dysfunctions. Prof. Wonkam was the principal investigator (PI) of a NIH funded H3Africa grant aiming to examine ethical issues relating to sickle cell genomics research in Cameroon, Tanzania and Ghana. Since 2017, we established the Sickle Africa Data Coordinating Center (SADaCC) to support the activities of the Sickle Pan African Research Consortium (SPARCo) site in Tanzania, Nigeria, and Ghana.
SADaCC

Prof. Nicola Mulder (Principal Investigator/Co-Principal Investigator)

On PubMed
Prof. Mulder heads the Computational Biology Division at the University of Cape Town (UCT), and is a full member of the Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine. She leads H3ABioNet, a large Pan African Bioinformatics Network of 28 institutions in 17 countries, which aims to develop bioinformatics capacity to enable genomic data analysis on the continent. H3ABioNet has developed an extensive training program for African researchers. She also co-leads a Sickle Cell Disease Data Coordinating Centre and a Wellcome Trust Centre Data Integration Platform at UCT. She received her PhD in Medical Microbiology from the University of Cape Town and then worked for 8.5 years at the European Bioinformatics Institute in Cambridge, as a Team Leader. At UCT her research focuses on genetic determinants of susceptibility to disease, African genome variation, and microbial genomics and infectious diseases from both the host and pathogen perspectives. Her group provides bioinformatics services and training and develops new algorithms and resources for the analysis of complex African genetic data. Prof Mulder is actively involved in capacity development, including training, education and curriculum development in Bioinformatics. She also sits on a number of international scientific advisory boards.
SADaCC

Prof. Andre Pascal Kengne (Co-Investigator)

On PubMed
Professor Andre Pascal Kengne is a medical doctor and internist from the School of Medicine of Yaounde in Cameroon; and holds a PhD in medicine from the Sydney University, Australia. He is the current Director of South African Medical Research Council?s Non-Communicable Diseases Research Unit, and holds conjoint appointments as Professor at the Department of the Department of Medicine of the University of Cape Town, South Africa.
His areas of research include chronic diseases epidemiology and prevention in developing countries, decision making in diabetes and cardiovascular disease. He has a solid background on longitudinal studies methodologies, both interventional and observational, as well as related statistical methods. He has practiced Medicine in Africa, lectured and mentored on issues relating to chronic diseases and conducted research on those conditions at very high level both in Africa and at the global level. He is co-author of over 450 peer-reviewed articles, book chapters and monographs on chronic diseases in Africa and at the global level. He has received several distinctions during his career as a researcher, and is member of may international experts and working groups.
SADaCC

Dr. Victoria Nembaware (Project Coordinator)

On PubMed
Dr. Nembaware was officially appointed as the Project Manager for SADaCC in November 2017 after about 4 years as the H3Africa training coordinator. She earned her first degree in Chemistry and Microbiology from the University of Cape Town and then graduated Cum Laude for her Hons and MSc degrees from the University of Western Cape (South African Bioinformatics Institute). Vicky was awarded a PhD in Bioinformatics in 2008 from the University of Cape Town.
In addition to her didactic training in Bioinformatics and Monitoring and Evaluation, Vicky has research experience in Bioinformatics and in the Public Health field. She also has experience in designing, monitoring and evaluation of projects in the Information Communication Technology field (particularly in mHealth). Vicky has conducted numerous mHealth projects which include a public participatory project in the development of the South African National Strategic Plan on AIDS, TB and HIV (2012-2015). To this end, she is developing a mobile phone app in collaboration with members of the H3Africa consortium which is aimed primarily to train researchers how to engage and educate the general public on heredity and health in Africa. "...I am passionate about evidence based training and mentoring of the next generation of African health researchers..."
SADaCC

Mr. Mario Jonas (Bioinformatician)

On PubMed
Mr. Jonas' background in Bioinformatics, multi-disciplinary in nature, serves him well in supporting the research and functioning of SADaCC in particular and the SickleInAfrica Consortium in general. He finds satisfaction in enabling his colleagues to focus on their areas of expertise and he is passionate about capacity building and teaching.
SADaCC

Mr. Wilson Mupfururirwa (Developer)

On PubMed
Mr. Mupfururirwa joined the SADaCC group to assist the Data Management and Information group with implementing sustainable Data Management schemas. He is working on implementing mobile health in the SADaCC group. My role is to find gaps in research which technology can fill. He is also currently working on implementing a mobile health application that will assist patients with pain management as well as work on implementing pipelines.
SADaCC

Mrs. Jade Hotchkiss (Curator)

On PubMed
Mrs. Hotchkiss works remotely from her home in Kloof (KZN, South Africa) as the lead curator for the SCDO. Her undergraduate background is in biochemistry and physiology. She has qualifications and work experience related to high school teaching, software development quality control, documentation creation and editing, and programming and research in the bioinformatics field. She is the proud mom of 3 young children, including twin girls.
SADaCC

Ms. Annemie Stewart (Database Design Consultant)

On PubMed
Ms. Stewart is a Public Health and Epidemiology graduate, with years of experience in data management and analysis. She leads the Data Management Team at the Clinical Research Centre in Cape Town.
SADaCC

Dr. Khuthala Mnika (Consultant)

On PubMed
Dr. Mnika obtained her Ph.D. in Human Genetics in 2020. She has already published three manuscripts as a first author and four manuscripts as a co-author in high-impact journals. Her Ph.D. project is entitled;"Pharmacogenomics of Sickle Cell Disease: Pain and Drug metabolism associated Gene Variants” and hydroxyurea induced post-transcriptional expression of miRNAs in an African cohort. This study is necessary to assist in gaining a better understanding of genetic variants affecting the predisposition to specific complications such as stroke and acute chest syndrome and polymorphisms affecting susceptibility to pain as well as the pharmacogenomics of commonly prescribed treatments such as hydroxyurea, malaria prophylaxis and pain medication for future precision medicine in sickle cell disease. Currently, she is a registered Senior Medical Scientist at the National Health Laboratory Services(NHLS) In the Human Genetics division.
SADaCC

Dr. Nchangwi Syntia Munung (Postdoctoral Fellow)

On PubMed
Nchangwi is interested in ethical and social issues in health research. She is currently involved in research related to the equitable governance of global health research consortia. Key areas: Justice, fairness and equity in health research.
SADaCC