Ms. Sesiyanda Maseko, holds a B.Sc. in Microbiology and Biochemistry and B.Sc. Honours in Biochemistry (University of the Free State).  She joined the UFS-NGS Unit in 2024 as an intern under the Enteric Viruses Research Group. She was motivated to pursue an internship at the UFS-NGS unit to build on the role genomics played in the success of her honours project titled “An Escherichia coli-based heterologous expression system for the Hepatitis B-virus polymerase to produce soluble protein for structural studies” and was eager to delve deeper into genomics and bioinformatics beyond the scope of her honours year.

Currently, Ms. Sesiyanda is pursuing her Masters under the supervision of Prof Martin Nyaga, and co-supervision of Dr Milton Mogotsi and Dr Kwe Claude Yinda, her research focuses on “Whole Genome Characterisation of Noroviruses Detected in Children Under 5 Years from Gauteng, South Africa”.

Ms. Sesiyanda expresses gratitude for this opportunity, viewing it as a stepping stone towards making a Nobel-worthy contributions in the field. She is committed to seizing every moment and maximizing every learning opportunity to continually improve and enhance her skills.