Paul Ogongo, PhD

Postdoctoral Scholar

Paul (he/him/his) grew up in Siaya, Kenya, before moving to Nairobi, Kenya to attend the University of Nairobi for his undergraduate degree. He later did his MSc at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Kenya. His first lab job was working on vaccine validation and development of new diagnostic tools for Schistosomiasis in the baboon model under Dr. Thomas Kariuki at the Institute of Primate Research, Nairobi, Kenya. After graduation with an MSc in Molecular Medicine, he moved to KwaZulu-Natal Research Institute for Tuberculosis and HIV (K-RITH), now known as Africa Health Research Institute (AHRI), and University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban, South Africa to join Dr. Alasdair Leslie lab for his PhD degree. Paul’s PhD project studied Lung tissue resident memory T and B-cells in the immune response to Mycobacterium tuberculosis in humans.

When not in the lab, Paul loves watching soccer and he also runs (long distances) for fun.
Publications

  1. Nyakundi RK, Hau J, Ogongo P, Nyamongo O, Jeneby M, Akinyi M, Mulei I, Nyundo F, Farah I, Malhotra I, Ozwara H, King CL, Kariuki T. Acquired clinical immunity to malaria in non-human primates co-infected with Schistosoma and Plasmodium parasites. 2021. PMID: 34871040


  2. von Borstel A, Chevour P, Arsovski D, Krol JMM, Howson LJ, Berry AA, Day CL, Ogongo P, Ernst JD, Nomicos EYH, Boddey JA, Giles EM, Rossjohn J, Traore B, Lyke KE, Williamson KC, Crompton PD, Davey MS. Repeated Plasmodium falciparum infection in humans drives the clonal expansion of an adaptive γδ T cell repertoire. 2021. PMID: 34851691


  3. Ceglia V, Kelley EJ, Boyle AS, Zurawski S, Mead HL, Harms CE, Blanck JP, Flamar AL, Kirschman JH, Ogongo P, Ernst JD, Levy Y, Zurawski G, Altin JA. A Framework to Identify Antigen-Expanded T Cell Receptor Clusters Within Complex Repertoires. 2021. PMID: 34917073


  4. Ochola L, Ogongo P, Mungai S, Gitaka J, Suliman S. Performance Evaluation of Lateral Flow Assays for Coronavirus Disease-19 Serology. 2021. PMID: 35153047


  5. Ogongo P, Tezera LB, Ardain A, Nhamoyebonde S, Ramsuran D, Singh A, Ng'oepe A, Karim F, Naidoo T, Khan K, Dullabh KJ, Fehlings M, Lee BH, Nardin A, Lindestam Arlehamn CS, Sette A, Behar SM, Steyn AJ, Madansein R, Kløverpris HN, Elkington PT, Leslie A. Tissue-resident-like CD4+ T cells secreting IL-17 control Mycobacterium tuberculosis in the human lung. 2021. PMID: 33848273


  6. Obiero J, Ogongo P, Mwethera PG, Wiysonge CS. Topical microbicides for preventing sexually transmitted infections. 2021. PMID: 33719075


  7. Magnoumba M, Singh A, Ogongo P, Roider J, Asowata O, Fehlings M, Karim F, Ndung'u T, Anderson F, Leslie A, Kløverpris H. Unbiased Profiling Reveals Compartmentalization of Unconventional T-Cells Within the Intestinal Mucosa Irrespective of HIV Infection. 2020. PMID: 33117384


  8. Tezera LB, Bielecka MK, Ogongo P, Walker NF, Ellis M, Garay-Baquero DJ, Thomas K, Reichmann MT, Johnston DA, Wilkinson KA, Ahmed M, Jogai S, Jayasinghe SN, Wilkinson RJ, Mansour S, Thomas GJ, Ottensmeier CH, Leslie A, Elkington PT. Anti-PD-1 immunotherapy leads to tuberculosis reactivation via dysregulation of TNF-a. 2020. PMID: 32091388


  9. Ogongo P, Steyn AJ, Karim F, Dullabh KJ, Awala I, Madansein R, Leslie A, Behar SM. Differential skewing of donor-unrestricted and ?d T cell repertoires in tuberculosis-infected human lungs. 2020. PMID: 31763997


  10. Ardain A, Domingo-Gonzalez R, Das S, Kazer SW, Howard NC, Singh A, Ahmed M, Nhamoyebonde S, Rangel-Moreno J, Ogongo P, Lu L, Ramsuran D, de la Luz Garcia-Hernandez M, Ulland TK, Darby M, Park E, Karim F, Melocchi L, Madansein R, Dullabh KJ, Dunlap M, Marin-Agudelo N, Ebihara T, Ndung'u T, Kaushal D, Pym AS, Kolls JK, Steyn A, Zúñiga J, Horsnell W, Yokoyama WM, Shalek AK, Kløverpris HN, Colonna M, Leslie A, Khader SA. Publisher Correction: Group 3 innate lymphoid cells mediate early protective immunity against tuberculosis. 2019. PMID: 31337923


  11. Roider J, Porterfield JZ, Ogongo P, Muenchhoff M, Adland E, Groll A, Morris L, Moore PL, Ndung'u T, Kløverpris H, Goulder PJR, Leslie A. Plasma IL-5 but Not CXCL13 Correlates With Neutralization Breadth in HIV-Infected Children. 2019. PMID: 31333650


  12. Ardain A, Domingo-Gonzalez R, Das S, Kazer SW, Howard NC, Singh A, Ahmed M, Nhamoyebonde S, Rangel-Moreno J, Ogongo P, Lu L, Ramsuran D, de la Luz Garcia-Hernandez M, K Ulland T, Darby M, Park E, Karim F, Melocchi L, Madansein R, Dullabh KJ, Dunlap M, Marin-Agudelo N, Ebihara T, Ndung'u T, Kaushal D, Pym AS, Kolls JK, Steyn A, Zúñiga J, Horsnell W, Yokoyama WM, Shalek AK, Kløverpris HN, Colonna M, Leslie A, Khader SA. Group 3 innate lymphoid cells mediate early protective immunity against tuberculosis. 2019. PMID: 31168092


  14. Attaf M, Malik A, Severinsen MC, Roider J, Ogongo P, Buus S, Ndung'u T, Leslie A, Kløverpris HN, Matthews PC, Sewell AK, Goulder P. Major TCR Repertoire Perturbation by Immunodominant HLA-B*44:03-Restricted CMV-Specific T Cells. 2018. PMID: 30487790


  17. Carvalho-Queiroz C, Nyakundi R, Ogongo P, Rikoi H, Egilmez NK, Farah IO, Kariuki TM, LoVerde PT. Protective Potential of Antioxidant Enzymes as Vaccines for Schistosomiasis in a Non-Human Primate Model. 2015. PMID: 26082781