The Team
Meet Our Researchers
A/Prof Rachael Dangarembizi
Principal Investigator
I am a neurobiologist who runs a research group that focuses on the neuroimmune response to fungal infections of the brain. My research aims to gain an understanding of how brain cells interact with fungal pathogens and I am currently working on Cryptococcal infections. I employ rodent models and organotypic brain slice cultures from clinical biospecimens to study the neuroinflammatory mechanisms underlying neurological damage in neurocryptococcosis.
Nawaal Samsodien
Lab Manager
Nawaal Samsodien is the Lab Manager of the Crypto Lab, focused on maintaining regulatory and biosafety compliance while ensuring smooth day-to-day laboratory operations. She oversees processes, supports research activities, and helps create a safe, efficient, and well-managed lab environment.
Dr Amalia Awala
Postdoctoral Researcher
Dr Amalia Naita Awala is a neuroscientist and Carnegie Postdoctoral Fellow at the Neuroscience Institute and Department of Human Biology at the University of Cape Town. Her research investigates neuroimmune mechanisms underlying cryptococcal brain infection and how host immune responses shape disease progression in the central nervous system.
Dr Joel Defo
Postdoctoral Researcher
Dr. Joel Defo is a postdoctoral scientist and bioinformatician who recently obtained his PhD in Human Genetics from the University of Cape Town. His work focuses on the analysis of complex datasets generated from single-nucleus and single-cell RNA sequencing, as well as spatial transcriptomics, to study cryptococcal meningitis in both mouse models and human samples. His research aims to identify distinct cell populations and characterize their transcriptional profiles during infection.
Maahir Kauchali
PhD Student
My name is Maahir Kauchali, and I am a neuroscientist from Johannesburg. I've always been magnetized to studying human biology and its systems. I fell in love with all things neuroscience during my undergrad degree which prompted an Honours and Masters degree in neuroscience. I'm interested in learning about brain injury and neuroinflammation during disease states.
Simran Patel
PhD Student
My interest in how dilated perivascular spaces drives downstream neurofluid complications guides much of my research. It has led me to explore aspects of fungal aggregation relative to the perivascular compartment, glymphatic function, and meningeal lymphatic drainage during murine models of cryptococcal meningitis.
Yanga Pato
PhD Student
My research investigates how cryptococcal meningitis disrupts brain metabolism at cellular and spatial resolution. Using a murine model, multi-omics and functional approaches are combined to map infection-driven metabolic disruption underlying neuropathology. This work links metabolic mechanisms to neurological injury, highlighting potential intervention targets.
Lilitha Cengani
Master's Student
I am from Bhisho in Eastern Cape. My desire to study the brain started in primary school, where I was drawn by the brain’s ability to shape personality and behaviour as well as governing pertinent physiological processes in the body. I carried this desire with me from when I completed my BSc degree at the University of Fort Hare and into my specialisation in neurosciences at the University of Cape Town. I am currently a master’s student venturing into medical mycology, using novel techniques to investigate how the brain’s immune environment responds during cryptococcal meningitis.
Blessing Gumbu
Master's Student
Blessing's work centres on how Cryptococcus neoformans engages with central nervous system cells, leveraging multi-parameter flow cytometry to map host-pathogen interactions in brain tissue. Through his YouTube channel and podcasts, he creates candid, relatable conversations about the real experience of building a life in science. A writer and poet at heart, Blessing will pick up the book every single time before he ever considers watching the movie adaptation.
Masilo Matlakala
Master's Student
Masilo Matlakala is an intercalated clinician-scientist trainee at the University of Cape Town, concurrently pursuing an MBChB (5th year) and an MSc in Medicine (Neuroscience and Physiology). His research investigates the complex neuroimmune interactions between Cryptococcus neoformans and microglia. Utilizing microglial cell cultures and murine models of cryptococcal meningitis, his work aims to unravel the precise subcellular mechanisms that facilitate microglial parasitism, ultimately seeking to identify novel therapeutic targets against cryptococcal meningitis