Emily Wong
Dr Emily Wong is an infectious disease physician-scientist whose work focuses on understanding TB and TB/HIV pathogenesis, immunity and epidemiology with the goal of discovering targets for improving health. To do this, her lab uses a range of techniques that span molecular to population science.
Emily specialises in establishing unique human cohorts to address fundamental questions about infectious disease and immune responses. Emily is one of the co-principal investigators of Vukuzazi, AHRI’s population-based health ‘omics study that links the longstanding demographic surveillance population to next-generation science. Designed to shed light on genetic and acquired drivers of health and disease, Vukuzazi defines deep human phenotypes using community-based health screening for HIV, TB and non-communicable diseases and collects biosamples to support genomic and transcriptomic study in the uMkhanyakude district of KwaZulu-Natal. Vukuzazi enrolled 18,041 participants between 2018-2020. Emily’s team is involved in several collaborative projects analysing baseline Vukuzazi data and longitudinal follow-up of individuals with specific phenotypes important to understanding TB. The research team spans the Durban and Somkhele campuses of AHRI and aims to bring together next-generation molecular techniques with population science to understand and interrupt drivers of TB infection and disease in the context of HIV hyperendemnicity.
One of the most striking findings from Vukuzazi was that many people had sputum-positive TB but reported having no symptoms at screening. Trying to understand and figure out what needs to be done about asymptomatic TB is now the primary focus of the Wong lab. Using techniques that span multi-omics, molecular epidemiology, analysis of AI-interpreted chest imaging and spatial epidemiology, members of the lab try to understand the heterogeneity of asymptomatic TB and determine the key subgroups that require detection and treatment. Emily is one of the co-principal investigators of Asymptomatic TB Transmission in Indonesia and South Africa (ATTIS), a large and exciting project that will launch in 2026 and that aims to understand how much asymptomatic TB contributes to transmission while also evaluating novel diagnostic tools for asymptomatic TB and assembling a biobank of immunological samples to advance understanding of immunity during early TB.
In addition to serving as a faculty lead at AHRI, Emily is an associate professor in the Heersink School of Medicine at the University of Alabama Birmingham. She is also an associate scientist in the UAB Center for Aids Research (CFAR) and has a secondary appointment in the UAB Department of Microbiology.
Get in touch with Emily via emily.wong@ahri.org
Click here for a full list of publications.
Wong Group
The Wong Group’s current projects include:
- Trying to understand the clinical, microbiological, radiological and immunological features of subclinical TB.
- Next-generation population science approaches to the intersection of infectious and non-communicable disease epidemics in rural KwaZulu-Natal.
- Investigations of immune responses to Mtb at the lung’s mucosal surface.
Meet the Team
Urisha Singh
Postdoctoral fellow
Urisha was awarded a PhD in Virology from the University of KwaZulu-Natal for studies on HIV drug resistance and its impact on treatment outcomes. She is currently a 5th year MBCHB candidate and is interested in a physician-scientist career that will involve translational research. Her current research focus is on identifying strategies to address the intersection of infections and non-communicable diseases in South Africa. She is also interested in investigating subclinical TB and methods for its diagnosis.
Lerato Ndlovu
Postdoctoral fellow
Dr Lerato Ndlovu did her masters in plant breeding and biochemistry before moving to Dr Al Leslie’s immunology lab at AHRI for her PhD. Her project focused on a set of innate immune cells called neutrophils, and investigating their unique phenotypic and genetic signature as a potential biomarker for TB disease status. She is currently a SANTHE and INSIGHT Fogarty postdoctoral fellow in the Wong group. Her postdoctoral project aims to characterise the impact of HIV co-infection on inflammation and anti-Mtb antibody responses in subclinical TB.
Yumna Moosa
PhD student
Yumna Moosa is an amateur mathematician and qualified medical doctor, with a MBChB degree from the University of Cape Town. She also holds a Master’s degree in Virology and Bioinformatics from UKZN. Her PhD project involves applying molecular and bioinformatic techniques to understand transmission and drivers of tuberculosis and dysbiotic vaginal microbiota in the Vukuzazi study.
Jana Fehr
PhD student
Jana Fehr wrote her master thesis in Molecular Biotechnology about modelling the spread of HIV in different environments. She is now a PhD student at the Digital Health chair of the Hasso-Plattner-Institute in Germany and collaborates with the Wong group and the the Vukuzazi programme - AHRI's next generation population-based health research platform. Her project focuses on applying machine learning on community-based data to answer fundamental questions about tuberculosis.
Alison Castle
Clinical Research Fellow
Alison is a current Fogarty global health scholar and infectious disease fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital. Her clinical research focuses on the intersection of infectious and non-communicable diseases. More specifically, she will explore the bidirectional relationship between tuberculosis, diabetes, and other comorbidities within an HIV-endemic cohort.
Maphe Mthembu
Research Study Coordinator
Dr Maphe Mthembu holds a masters and PhD from UKZN. Her work at AHRI focuses on understanding the immune response to HIV infected individuals and how infection alters immunity to M tuberculosis. She has also been working on studying the function and location of mucosal invariant T (MAIT) cells immune response from bronchoalveolar lavage fluid compared to the peripheral blood.
Thando Zulu
Laboratory Technician
Thando holds a master’s degree in virology and an honours degree in medical science from the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Her work at AHRI focuses on HIV and TB immunology. Her other duties include serving as a lab coordinator, processing, and storage of human samples as well as maintenance and upkeep of BSL3 and BSL2 laboratories.
Selected Recent Publications
Wong EB. (2021). It is time to focus on asymptomatic tuberculosis. Clinical Infectious Diseases.
Wong EB, Olivier S, Gunda R, Koole O, Surujdeen A, Gereta D, Munatsi D, Modise TH, Dreyer J, Nxumalo S, Smit T, Ording-Jespersen G, Mpofana IB, Khan K, Sikhosana ZEL, Moodley S, Shen YJ, Khoza T, Mhlongo N, Bucibo S, Nyamande K, Baisley K, Cuadros D, Tanser F, Grant AS, Herbst K, Seeley J, Hanekom WA, Ndung'u T, Siedner MJ, Pillay D and the Vukuzazi Team. (corresponding author) (2021). Convergence of infectious and non-communicable disease epidemics in rural South Africa: a cross-sectional, population-based multimorbidity study. Lancet Glob Health 2021; 9: e967–76. (PMID: 34143995, PMCID: PMC8220132).
Khuzwayo S, Mthembu M, Meermeier EW, Prakadan S, Kazer SW, Bassett T, Nyamande K, Khan DF, Maharaj P, Mitha M, Suleman M, Mhlane Z, Ramjit D, Karim F, Shalek A, Lewinsohn DM, Ndung'u T, Wong EB. (corresponding author) (2021). MR1-restricted MAIT cells from the human lung mucosal surface have distinct phenotypic, functional and transcriptomic features that are preserved in HIV infection.. Frontiers in Immunology 12:1135.
Fehr J, Konigorski S, Olivier S, Gunda R, Surujdeen A, Gareta D, Smit T, Baisley K, Moodley S, Moosa Y, Hanekom W, Koole O, Ndung'u T, Pillay D, Grant AD, Siedner MJ, Lippert C, Wong EB and the Vukuzazi Team. (corresponding author) (2021). Computer-aided interpretation of chest radiography reveals the spectrum of tuberculosis in rural South Africa. npj Digit Med.
Muema D*, Mthembu M*, Schiff A, Singh U, Bassett T, Corleis B, Nyamande K, Fakey Khan D, Maharaj P, Mitha M, Suleman M, Mhlane Z, Ramjit D, Karim F, Kwon D, Ndung'u T, Wong EB. (corresponding author) (2020). Contrasting Inflammatory Signatures in Peripheral Blood and Bronchoalveolar Cells Reveal Compartment-Specific Effects of HIV Infection. Frontiers in Immunology 11:864.
Gunda R, Koole O, Gareta D, Olivier S, Surujdeen A, Smit T, Modise T, Dreyer J, Ording-Jespersen G, Munatsi D, Nxumalo S, Khoza T, Mhlongo N, Baisley K, Seeley J, Grant AD, Herbst K, Ndung'u T, Hanekom WA, Siedner MJ, Pillay D, Wong EB; Vukuzazi Study Team. Cohort Profile: The Vukuzazi ('Wake Up and Know Yourself' in isiZulu) population science programme. International Journal of Epidemiology. 2022 Jun 13;51(3):e131-e142. doi: 10.1093/ije/dyab229. (PMID: 34849923).
Mthembu M, Baiyegunhi O, Mdleleni Y, Ndlovu L, Keal H, Waddilove K, Yarrow JC, Kasprowicz V, Ndung'u T, Wong EB. A PowerPack of SuperScientists: An innovative concept by African scientists to address gender bias and inequity in science. Wellcome Open Research. 2023 Feb 24;7:87. doi: 10.12688/wellcomeopenres.17668.2. (PMID: 37456907).
Mthembu M, Bowman KA, Davies LRL, Khuzwayo S, Mazibuko L, Bassett T, Ramjit D, Mhlane Z, Karim F, Alter G, Ndung'u T, Wong EB.. Discrepancy between Mtb-specific IFN-γ and IgG responses in HIV-positive people with low CD4 counts. EBioMedicine. 2023 Apr;90:104504. doi: 10.1016/j.ebiom.2023.104504. Epub 2023 Mar 2. (PMID: 36870197).
Singh U, Olivier S, Cuadros D, Castle A, Moosa Y, Zulu T, Edwards JA, Kim HY, Gunda R, Koole O, Surujdeen A, Gareta D, Munatsi D, Modise TH, Dreyer J, Nxumalo S, Smit TK, Ordering-Jespersen G, Mpofana IB, Khan K, Sikhosana ZEL, Moodley S, Shen YJ, Khoza T, Mhlongo N, Bucibo S, Nyamande K, Baisley KJ, Grant AD, Herbst K, Seeley J, Pillay D, Hanekom W, Ndung'u T, Siedner MJ, Tanser F, Wong EB; Vukuzazi team. The met and unmet health needs for HIV, hypertension, and diabetes in rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa: analysis of a cross-sectional multimorbidity survey. Lancet Global Health. 2023 Sep;11(9):e1372-e1382. doi: 10.1016/S2214-109X(23)00239-5. (PMID: 37591585).
Sifumba Z, Claassen H, Olivier S, Khan P, Ngubane H, Bhengu T, Zulu T, Sithole M, Gareta D; Vukuzazi Team; Moosa MS, Hanekom WA, Bassett IV, Wong EB. Subclinical tuberculosis linkage to care and completion of treatment following community-based screening in rural South Africa. BMC Glob Public Health. 2024;2(1):30. doi: 10.1186/s44263-024-00059-0. Epub 2024 Jun 2. (PMID: 38832047).
Mthembu M, Claassen H, Khuzwayo S, Voillet V, Naidoo A, Spillner JS, Nyamande K, Khan DF, Maharaj P, Mitha M, Mhlane Z, Karim F, Andersen-Nissen E, Ndung'u T, Pollara G, Wong EB. Dysfunctional bronchoalveolar effector memory CD8+ T cells in tuberculosis-exposed people living with antiretroviral-naïve HIV infection. iScience. 2024 Nov 15;27(11):111137. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2024.111137. eCollection 2024 Nov 15. (PMID: 39563891).
Chidumwa G, Olivier S, Ngubane H, Zulu T, Sithole M, Gunda R; Vukuzazi Team; Sewpaul R, Kruse G, Rigotti NA, Hanekom WA, Siedner MJ, Reddy KP, Wong EB. Association between tobacco smoking and prevalence of HIV, tuberculosis, hypertension and diabetes in rural South Africa: a cross-sectional study. BMC Public Health. 2024 Nov 27;24(1):3306. doi: 10.1186/s12889-024-20791-4. (PMID: 39605009).