Nikita Naicker

Dr Nikita Naicker (PhD) joined the Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA) fellowship programme in 2017 as a pre-doctoral fellow. Her PhD focused on metformin, diabetes and alternate therapy. The programme prompted her to apply her knowledge on metformin to investigate this drug as a repurposed agent for improving TB treatment outcomes. 

She the recipient of the National Research Foundation (NRF)- South African Research Chairs Initiative (SARCHI) post-doctoral fellowship which allowed her to join the post-doctoral programme where the primary goal of her study was to characterize the biological effect of metformin on TB infected macrophages alone and in combination with the current anti-TB therapy. The results of this work translated into a successful European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP) career fellowship award and the NRF-Thuthuka grant.