Mireille Kamariza

Mireille Kamariza is a Burundian-born American bioscientist and an Assistant Professor in the Bioengineering Department at the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science. Previously, Kamariza was appointed as a Harvard Junior Fellow for her postdoctoral studies and she completed her doctoral studies in Biology at Stanford University. Her research considers the development of chemical biosensing tools, low cost point-of-care diagnostics, infectious diseases, and global health. In 2020, she was named as one of Chemical & Engineering News's Talented 12.

Early life

Kamariza was born in Burundi a few years before the Burundi Civil War. Kamariza became interested in science as a child, and enjoyed reading books about planets. Girls rarely attend college in Burundi, but Kamariza enrolled at a government-managed Catholic school.

During Kamariza's childhood, she often had to move due to the ongoing civil war. Kamariza observed the ravages that infectious diseases such as AIDS and malaria have on already vulnerable populations. But whilst malaria and AIDS receive significant media attention and funding, they are not the most lethal conditions in Africa. In 2015, tuberculosis killed 1.4 million people, considerably more than AIDS, and there is still significant stigma surrounding the disease. Following Saidane's advice, Kamariza quit her job at Safeway. Her impact on UCSD was recognised by her undergraduate dean David Artis, who referred to Kamariza as one of his "all-time favorite students".

Education and research

In 2012 Kamariza moved to the University of California, Berkeley, for her graduate studies in cell biology. She applied to join the research group of Carolyn R. Bertozzi. After earning her master's degree, Kamariza joined Stanford University as a graduate student, still working in the Bertozzi laboratory. Here she developed a new point of care diagnostic device for tuberculosis (TB). Tuberculosis is caused by the mycobacterium tuberculosis, a bacterium that has a cell wall so dense that it is difficult for drugs to penetrate. Trehalose is a chemical compound that is found in a range of living organisms that is used by mycobacterium tuberculosis as a scaffold. Kamariza developed DMN-Tre (4-N,N-dimethy-laminonaph-thal-i-mide-trehalose), a molecule that lights up when it is incorporated into the cell walls of mycobacteria. Her research was commercialised, and together with Bertozzi she founded OliLux Biosciences, a company that looks to develop low cost diagnostics for low-income countries. It was awarded a Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation grant to test their diagnostic devices in places with high levels of disease.

Kamariza was appointed a Harvard Junior Fellow at Harvard University in 2019. She examines topics regarding precision medicine in global health.

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