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Professor Anna Kramvis is a Reader in Molecular Virology and
heads the Hepatitis Virus Diversity Research Programme (HVDRP) in the
Department of Internal Medicine at the University of the Witwatersrand.
She has also been recently appointed as a Wits representative on the
ACGT Advisory Committee.
After completing her BSc Hons at Wits, Professor Kramvis went
further in her science career to graduate with a PhD in 1986. She has
since been a long standing researcher at Wits and until 1991 she held
the positions of researcher and then lecturer in the University's
Department of Microbiology.
Professor Kramvis has worked in the field of viral hepatitis
for over 15 years and is an NRF B-rated scientist. She was also awarded
the senior bioinformatics fellowship by the National Bioinformatics
Network in 2007.
As a molecular virologist, the impetus of her research has
been to characterize the genome of the African strains of Hepatitis B
Virus and to determine whether there are mutations or variations in the
isolates from Africans with and without disease, which may contribute
to disease progression.
She has been involved in the comparative analysis of hepatitis
virus strains from various geographic regions of the world, in order to
shed light on the origin, transmission and pathogenesis of
viral-induced disease. To date, she and her team have characterised HBV
isolates from HIV-negative individuals in our local population and are
now carrying out parallel research in HIV-positive individuals.
This research holds promises in the development of diagnostics
and in custom designing of molecular antiviral and anti-tumour
therapies. The progress in sequencing techniques, in computers and
information technology has provided powerful tools in the analysis of
the molecular evolution of viruses.
The HVDRP provides a platform for the training of research
scientists and clinicians in scientific planning, methodology and
interpretation in a molecular biology environment. The extensive and
ongoing national and international collaborative networks established
with laboratories in South Africa, Ghana, Zimbabwe, Gambia, the United
States of America, Japan, China, Hong Kong Sweden, Belgium, Greece and
Australia is proof of the importance of hepatitis virus research and
its relevance both nationally and internationally.
Professor Kramvis has published over 40 peer reviewed articles
in international journals and regularly serves as an ad hoc reviewer
for scientific journals.
Prof
Anna Kramvis,
Tel: +27 11 488 3100
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