Dr Moolla, Naazneen

A graduate of the University of Witwatersrand with Doctor of Philosophy (Medicine) degree and a post-graduate diploma in management (PDM), Naazneen Moolla joined the National Institute for Communicable Diseases in 2011 and has been with the Special Viral Pathogens Laboratory since.
She is accomplished in the field of molecular research where she has experience in the development of molecular assays, candidate vaccines, the management and establishment of a Biosafety level II – IV facilities, and the supervision of students. Most of Moolla’s work is directed towards increasing regional capacity for rapid diagnosis as well as the improvement and maintenance of surveillance programs.
With respect to her technical expertise, she is skilled in production and biochemical analysis of recombinant proteins expressed in mammalian and bacterial systems. The main focus of her research and activities is improving the diagnostic capacity for viral haemorrhagic fevers (VHF) in South Africa. Moolla has experience in the development of serological assays for the diagnosis of filoviruses, in particular Ebola virus. The filovirus, Ebola virus is significant human pathogen that causes severe haemorrhagic fevers in humans and present a public health concern as emerging or re-emerging pathogens. This is evidenced by the prolonged nature and severity of the Ebola epidemic in West Africa (2014) and the outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo (2019). She also has a special interest in mammarenaviruses, like Lassa and has been working on improving diagnostics assays (both molecular and serological) for these viruses.
Moolla is the lead on the next generation sequencing (NGS) project that is assessing the utility of using the Oxford- Nanopore MinION device, as a tool for rapid VHF diagnosis.