Mr
Ahab
Kayigwe
I am full-time PhD student at Menzies Institute for Medical Research, University of Tasmania, Tasmania. From 2014 to June 2019, I had been working in the higher education sector in Tanzania as an assistant lecturer. Subjects I have taught include biochemistry, biotechnology instrumentation and agricultural biotechnology at the Dar es Salaam Institute of Technology (DIT). I also taught immunology, and basic microbiology and molecular biology, at the Kampala International University in Tanzania (on part time contract). For my MSc thesis, I carried out a field trial of a novel vaccine against malignant catarrhal fever in cattle. The project involved carrying out a range of serological and PCR analyses looking for evidence of immunological responses and for presence of the malignant catarrhal fever virus, the Alcelaphine herpesvirus 1 (AlHV1), in vaccinated and control cattle. My Bachelor degree was in molecular biology and biotechnology and was done at the Uni of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania.
My current research is focused on identification of devil facial tumour (DFT)-specific antigens for vaccine development against two related transmissible cancers in Tasmanian devils. The species is listed as endangered because of the decline in population caused by the disease. My previous research experience include assessing the efficacy of a novel vaccine against malignant catarrhal fever under field conditions. Malignant cattarhal fever is a cattle disease that is caused by alcelaphine gammaherpes virus-1 (AlHV-1) and in East Africa, the disease is transmitted to cattle from wildebeests. My academic background is in molecular biology and biomedical science with particular interest in animal cancer vaccinology.