Biography

Dr. Mortlock has been a postdoctoral researcher in the Biosurveillance and Ecology of Emerging Zoonoses (BEEZ) Research Group in the Centre for Viral Zoonoses at the University of Pretoria (UP-CVZ), since July 2019. She has been a part of this research group and involved in various aspects of zoonotic virus biosurveillance in bats for the last 10 years as part of her postgraduate research studies. Her postgraduate research focus was on understanding the ecology and epidemiology of zoonotic paramyxoviruses through which I have gained extensive knowledge in bat-borne paramyxoviruses, molecular detection techniques, phylogenetic analyses, cell culture techniques and have been trained to work under Biosafety level 3 conditions. Work from her postgraduate studies have been published in peer-reviewed journals and presented at multiple international research conferences. She is currently co-supervising two honours and one masters student and manages the Biobank of the BEEZ research group.

Discipline/s

Microbiology, Virology, Zoonoses

Research description

Dr. Mortlock’s research is centred around zoonotic paramyxoviruses in bats which forms part of the larger research focus of the BEEZ research group on zoonotic pathogens in bats and non-volant small mammals in Southern Africa. Dr. Mortlock’s postdoctoral research project considers a multidisciplinary approach to biosurveillance of emerging zoonotic paramyxoviruses and the bat-human-livestock interface. Her research is aimed at studying the paramyxoviral dynamics in bats and determining possible risk factors that could contribute to the spill-over of zoonotic pathogens from these flying mammals through human and livestock behavioural and observational studies. The data generated from this research will provide knowledge on the exposure of high-risk human populations and potential intermediate hosts. This will contribute towards risk assessments for potential zoonotic paramyxoviruses by generating risk maps, and aid in future mitigation strategies.

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Research gate/Website