Michael Whitfield
Michael began his MSc in Molecular Biology in 2013 as part of the Department of Biomedical Sciences at Stellenbosch University. Two years later he successfully upgraded his MSc into a PhD. The focus of his research was on Pyrazinamide (PZA) resistance in MTB. He investigated genotypic and phenotypic associations as well as prevalence of PZA resistance across a spectrum of drug resistance cohorts. Michael successfully graduated in December 2016; his interests include drugresistance and improving whole genome sequencing (WGS) of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB). Michael who is currently based at Stellenbosch University is a postdoctoral research fellow and is a member of the Centre for Whole Genome Sequencing of MTB. He is working on culture free and sputum free sampling for WGS of MTB. The aim of this research is to eliminate the culturing step in WGS allowing us to have a better perspective of the patient’s infection.