Profile AI
Dr. Tonney Nyirenda is a lecturer in Microbiology and a postdoctoral immunologist based at the University of Malawi, College of Medicine, and the Blantyre Malaria Project. Dr. Nyirenda's research has focused on dissecting the mechanisms underlying increased susceptibility to invasive bacterial infections during current or convalescent malaria in children. Since 2010, Dr. Nyirenda's research career has been productive, publishing in highly regarded journals and securing competitive training awards, including the Wellcome Trust Master’s Scholarship (2008–2010), the Commonwealth Split-Site Scholarship (2011–2012), CARTA PhD Scholarships (2012–2016), and SACORE Post-Doctoral Scholarship (2017–2018). He is currently co-supervising two PhD students and three MSc students at the University of Malawi and the University of Liverpool. Dr. Nyirenda's goal is to become an independent researcher in infectious diseases immunology.
Dr. Nyirenda has made significant contributions to science in the field of invasive bacterial infections and malaria in African children. Malaria is commonly associated with invasive bacterial infections, but the immunologic basis of this observation is poorly understood. Dr. Nyirenda and colleagues recently discovered that malaria infections transiently induce the loss of humoral and cellular immunity to non-typhoidal Salmonella (NTS) in children, and this loss is independent of age and IgG antibody titres to NTS-LPS. The loss of humoral immunity appears to be due to increased consumption of complement components during malaria. The global loss of humoral and cellular immunity during malaria may help explain the epidemiological association between malaria and invasive NTS infections in children from malaria-endemic regions.
Nyirenda TS, Nyirenda J, Tembo D, Storm J, Dube Q, Msefula CL, Jambo K, Mwandumba H, Heyderman R, Gordon M, Mandala WL. Loss of Humoral and Cellular Immunity to Invasive Non-typhoidal Salmonella During Current or Convalescent Plasmodium falciparum Infection in Malawian Children. Clinical Vaccine Immunology, In Press, May 2017.
Why do children who have previously been exposed to malaria parasites develop severe malaria upon subsequent exposure? This is poorly understood. Dr. Nyirenda and colleagues described immune regulation that occurs in malaria-infected Malawian children (acute and convalescent) from areas of low and high malaria transmission. This work suggests that downregulation of the pro-inflammatory immune response to malaria parasites in convalescent children may lead to the development of severe forms of malaria. Nyirenda TS, et al. Journal of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society, 2015. DOI: 10.1093/jpids/piu140.
Salmonella is an important cause of bacteremia in children, and the nature of natural immunity to Salmonella in humans remains poorly understood. Dr. Nyirenda and colleagues described the sequential acquisition of T cell and antibody immunity to Salmonella in children. This work demonstrated that antibodies and T cells are required for the establishment of robust immunity to invasive Salmonella infection in children and defined when children lack immunity to Salmonella and may require vaccination. Nyirenda, TS, et al. The Journal of Infectious Diseases, 2014.
Program Impact AI
The program appears to have supported a clear rise in this author’s research activity during enrollment, with a stronger publication stream than before the program. Because graduation was in 2015 and the post-graduation period is well established, the much larger later output suggests the program may also have helped build momentum for sustained productivity afterward.
