Craig Kinnear

At the start of my career, the focus of my research was the identification of obsessive-compulsive disorder and schizophrenia susceptibility genes in South African patients. After the completion of my PhD, my research area shifted to cardiovascular genetics. I was particularly interested in the molecular mechanisms leading to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) and longQT syndrome (LQTS). In 2013, as part of the restructuring of the South African Medical Research Council, I joined the Tuberculosis Host Genetics Research team at the SAMRC Centre for Tuberculosis Research. My focus now is identification of host genetic factors involved in increased tuberculosis (TB) by investigating the molecular aetiologies of a group of Primary immunodeficiency disorders (PID) that specifically increases susceptibility TB. I am also one of the founding members of the Primary Immunodeficiency Disorders Genetics Research (PIDDGEN) team that aims to provide molecular diagnoses to PID patients from across South Africa.