Dr Yousif, Mukhlid

Dr Mukhlid Yousif obtained his BSc degree from the University of Khartoum, Sudan in 2002 majoring in microbiology and thereafter his MSc qualification in molecular biology. He worked as a Medical Scientist in one of the most advanced laboratories in Khartoum and has also worked as a Research Assistant at the Institute of Endemic Diseases at the University of Khartoum. Here he received training in molecular biology techniques and leishmania parasites research.
Yousif lectured undergraduate students in microbiology and molecular biology at the Nile College in Khartoum, after which he moved to the United Arab Emirates, working in one of the biggest hospitals in the Department of Molecular Biology.
After this stint he relocated to Johannesburg to pursue his PhD at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), where he joined Professor Anna Kramvis’ laboratory in the field of Hepatitis B Virus research. In 2016, Yousif joined the Centre for HIV and STIs at the National Institute for Communicable Diseases as a Senior Medical Scientist in the HIV drug resistance surveillance programme. After four years he moved to the Centre for Vaccines and Immunology, where he is focusing on the polio eradication programme, measles elimination programme, Hepatitis B and SARS-CoV-2 wastewater surveillance. His research projects include SARS-CoV-2 sequencing from wastewater and serological detection of SARS-CoV-2 in children. Yousif has a keen interest in virology, molecular epidemiology and bioinformatics.