Member Profile
Onalenna Natasha Moraka
Country of origin: Botswana Currently in: Botswana, Gaborone General field of specialization: Medical and Health Sciences incl Neurosciences-
Degrees
2015 Undergraduate Structural, Cell and Molecular Biology2021 Master Medical and Health Sciences incl Neurosciences -
Current Research Activities
Medical and Health Sciences incl Neurosciences
I graduated with BSc in Biology and Chemistry at the University of Botswana in 2015. I am currently a NIH Fogarty research fellow who has just completed my MSc in Medical Virology at Stellenbosch University where I was under the supervision of Prof. U. Gert VanZyl; co-supervised by Dr Sikhulile Moyo and Dr. Simani Gaseitsiwe of the Botswana Harvard Partnership (BHP). The main aims of my project were to determine drug resistance patterns in infants in Botswana as well as determine the impact of HIV drug resistance in infant proviral reservoirs on life-long treatment outcomes. Preliminary data from my MSc work has been presented at international conferences including International AIDS Society conference (IAS 2021), Virology Africa 2020 as well as the 23rd International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2020). I now have a manuscript titled “Patterns of pre-treatment drug resistance mutations of very early diagnosed and treated infants in Botswana” which has just been accepted in the AIDS journal; this paper will contribute greatly to the field by providing the first data that looks into proviral HIV drug resistance in infants in Botswana. Under the supervision of Dr S.Lockman, Dr S. Moyo and Dr S. Gaseitsiwe; I have also studied cytomegalovirus (CMV) co-infection among HIV-positive pregnant women and their infants where I have published two first author manuscripts in JAIDS and Open Forum Infectious diseases journals; PMID: 30964806 and PMID: 33072807. These publications were the first ever studies to look at CMV in infants in Botswana, providing a good baseline for more studies in this field in Botswana. I have also worked on several studies looking at HIV and HPV co-infection as well as several other projects including studies evaluating HIV compartmentalization in cerebrospinal fluid and plasma on cryptococcal meningitis patients where I am listed as co-author in the resulting manuscripts; PMID: 33031315 and 33297399.
Publications resulting from Research:
Moraka NO, Garcia-Broncano P, Hu Z, Ajibola G, Bareng OT, Pretorius-Holme M, Maswabi K, Maphorisa C, Mohammed T, Gaseitsiwe S, VanZyl GU, Kuritzkes DR, Lichterfeld M, Moyo S, Shapiro RL. Patterns of pre-treatment drug resistance mutations of very early diagnosed and treated infants in Botswana. AIDS. 2021 Jul 28. doi: 10.1097/QAD.0000000000003041. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 34324451.
Moraka NO, Moyo S, Smith C, Ibrahim M, Mayondi G, Leidner J, Powis KM, Cassidy AR, Kammerer B, Ajibola G, Williams PL, Weinberg A, Musonda R, Shapiro R, Gaseitsiwe S, Lockman S. Child HIV Exposure and CMV Seroprevalence in Botswana: No Associations With 24-Month Growth and Neurodevelopment.
Open Forum Infect Dis. 2020 Aug 22;7(10):ofaa373. doi: 10.1093/ofid/ofaa373. eCollection 2020 Oct. PMID: 33072807
Moraka NO, Moyo S, Mayondi G, Leidner J, Ibrahim M, Smith C, Weinberg A, Li S, Thami PK, Kammerer B, Ajibola G, Musonda R, Shapiro R, Gaseitsiwe S, Lockman S. Cytomegalovirus Viremia in HIV-1 Subtype C Positive Women at Delivery in Botswana and Adverse Birth/Infant Health Outcomes. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr. 2019 May 1;81(1):118-124. doi: 10.1097/QAI.0000000000001982. PMID: 30964806
Co-author publications
1. Kelentse N, Moyo S, Mogwele M, Lechiile K, Moraka NO, Maruapula D, Seatla KK, Esele L, Molebatsi K, Leeme TB, Lawrence DS, Musonda R, Kasvosve I, Harrison TS, Jarvis JN, Gaseitsiwe S. Differences in human immunodeficiency virus-1C viral load and drug resistance mutation between plasma and cerebrospinal fluid in patients with human immunodeficiency virus-associated cryptococcal meningitis in Botswana.
Medicine (Baltimore). 2020 Oct 9;99(41):e22606. doi: 10.1097/MD.0000000000022606. PMID: 33031315
2. Kelentse N, Moyo S, Mogwele ML, Ditshwanelo D, Mokaleng B, Moraka NO, Lechiile K, Leeme TB, Lawrence DS, Musonda R, Kasvosve I, Harrison TS, Jarvis JN, Gaseitsiwe S. HIV-1C env and gag Variation in the Cerebrospinal Fluid and Plasma of Patients with HIV-Associated Cryptococcal Meningitis in Botswana. Viruses. 2020 Dec 7;12(12):1404. doi: 10.3390/v12121404. PMID: 33297399
3. Smith, C., N. O. Moraka, M. Ibrahim, S. Moyo, G. Mayondi, B. Kammerer, J. Leidner, S. Gaseitsiwe, S. Li, R. Shapiro, S. Lockman and A. Weinberg (2019). "HIV Exposure but Not Early CMV Infection is Associated with Increased Hospitalization and Decreased Memory T-cell Responses to Tetanus Vaccine." J Infect Dis.
4. Weinberg A, Lindsey J, Bosch R, Persaud D, Sato P, Ogwu A, Asmelash A, Bwakura-Dangarambezi M, Chi BH, Canniff J, Lockman S, Gaseitsiwe S, Moyo S, Smith CE, Moraka NO, Levin MJ; P1072 and Tshipidi Study Teams. B and T Cell Phenotypic Profiles of African HIV-Infected and HIV-Exposed Uninfected Infants: Associations with Antibody Responses to the Pentavalent Rotavirus Vaccine. Front Immunol. 2018 Jan 19; 8:2002. PubMed PMID: 29403482
5. Rantshabeng PS, Moyo S, Moraka NO, Ndlovu A, MacLeod IJ, Gaseitsiwe S, Kasvosve I.
Prevalence of oncogenic human papillomavirus genotypes in patients diagnosed with anogenital malignancies in Botswana. BMC Infect Dis. 2017 Nov 25;17(1):731. PubMed PMID:29178840
6. Moyo S, Mohammed T, Wirth KE, Prague M, Bennett K, Holme MP, Mupfumi L, Sebogodi P, Moraka NO, Boleo C, Maphorisa CN, Seraise B, Gaseitsiwe S, Musonda RM, van Widenfelt E, Powis KM, Gaolathe T, Tchetgen EJ, Makhema JM, Essex M, Lockman S, Novitsky V. Point-of-care Cepheid Xpert HIV-1 Viral Load Test in Rural African Communities is Feasible and Reliable. J Clin Microbiol. 2016 Oct 12. pii: JCM.01594-16. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 27733636.
Current profession
Current professional activities type:OtherDue to the unexpected COVID-19 pandemic that is seemingly only beginning in Botswana, I am also part of the Botswana National COVID-19 testing team at BHP, where I am responsible for diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 using different laboratory assays and protocols including rapid antigen testing, RNA PCR, GeneXpert testing and viral sequencing. I also assist with the data management efforts, compiling all the laboratory data for the COVID-19 statistical analysis team.
Workshop and Conference Attended
2021 Virtual 11th IAS Conference on HIV Science (IAS 2021) Conference2020 Virtual IAS COVID-19 Conference2020 Virtual AIDS 20202020 Cape Town, South Africa Virology Africa 20202019 Washington, USA IDWeek 20192018 Gaborone, Botswana 7th Botswana International HIV Conference2018 British Columbia, Canada Keystone Symposia X8 HIV and Co-Infections: Pathogenesis, Inflammation and Persistence conference2017 Abidjan, Ivory Coast 19th International Conference on AIDS and STDs in Africa (ICASA)2017 Port Louis, Mauritius UNESCO Merck Africa Research Summit – MARS 20172017 Seattle, USA The annual Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI)Affiliations
International AIDS Society -
Other Awards
May 2021IAS 2021 ScholarshipAn IAS 2021 Scholarship to participate in the 11th IAS Conference on HIV Science (IAS 2021).Apr 2020AIDS 2020: Virtual International Scholarship AwardA scholarship to participate in the first virtual edition of the International AIDS Conference – AIDS 2020: Virtual.Feb 2020Sub-Saharan African Network for TB/HIV Research Excellence- Travel AwardSANTHE Travel Scholarship to attend the Virology Africa 2020 Conference in Cape Town, South Africa (10 -14 February 2020)Dec 2017Keystone Symposia Global Health Travel AwardOne of 36/405 award recipients to attend the Keystone Symposium: X8, HIV and Co-Infections: Pathogenesis, Inflammation and Persistence to be held at the Fairmont Chateau Whistler in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada , April 15 - 19, 2018.Jan 2019SANTHE masters fellowshipA two year SANTHE Masters Fellowship Award under the supervision and mentorship of Prof. Gert van Zyl at Stellenbosch University.
