Simone Richardson

National Institute for Communicable Diseases

Simone is currently a postdoctoral fellow 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 and Influenza infection and vaccination and the improvement of broadly neutralizing antibody function for passive immunization. She is currently the scientific lead for all Fc effector function work at the unit and leads a small team of passionate immunologists. She was recently 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. She is currently a co-investigator on an H3 Africa NIH U01 grant that aims to assess Fc effector function of antibodies and although the exciting science keeps her busy, is extremely passionate about science communication!