Researcher profile

Simone Richardson

Simone is currently a Senior Research Scientist in the Antibody Immunity Research Unit of the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) and at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa, where she also completed her PhD. Her research focuses on the role of Fc effector function in HIV, COVID-19, Cytomegalovirus and Influenza infection and vaccination and the improvement of broadly neutralizing antibody function for passive immunization. She currently leads a small team of passionate immunologists and students. She has been honoured as an early career fellow of two of the biggest HIV vaccine bodies, the HIV Vaccine Trials Network and the Collaboration for AIDS Vaccine Discovery and was the recipient of the prestigious L’Oreal Women in Science fellowship. Although the exciting science keeps her busy, is extremely passionate about science communication!