Rate My Professor Kristie Bloom

Dr Kristie Bloom is a Senior Researcher and Team Leader in the Wits/SAMRC Antiviral Gene Therapy Research Unit at the University of the Witwatersrand in the Faculty of Health Sciences. She holds a BSc, BScHons, MSc and PhD from the University of the Witwatersrand, completing her doctorate in 2013 at the Antiviral Gene Therapy Research Unit where her work focused on developing genome engineering agents to disable hepatitis B virus permanently. After completing postdoctoral research in Germany she returned to the unit, where she continues her work as a molecular biologist developing anti-HBV therapies and mRNA vaccines against infectious diseases such as tuberculosis.

Dr Bloom serves as a team leader alongside other senior members of the unit and contributes as an associate editor to the journal Gene Therapy. In 2025 she received a funding excellence award in the Notable Research Funding category in recognition of her research achievements and dedication. Her academic background and ongoing contributions centre on antiviral gene therapy approaches and innovative vaccine technologies within the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of the Witwatersrand.