Hello, I’m Kalonji, and I work at the intersection of Molecular Biology, Computational Biology, and Data Science.

My academic background spans biomedicine, bioinformatics, microbiology, and molecular biology, and I have been fortunate to gain experience in both wet-lab experiments and computational research. My mission is to draw insight from data, especially complex datasets. I am always interested in making sense of omics data. I explore how we can use it to tackle inherent biomedical and biotechnological challenges.

Outside of work, I enjoy capturing images with both film and digital cameras, playing musical instruments, and travelling.

My Photo Library

On top of a mountain in Serra da Estrela, Portugal.

Visited CERN.

My first international conference in Hamburg.

Education

• Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Molecular Biology (2024) - University of the Witwatersrand
• Master of Science in Molecular Biology with Distinction (2021) – University of the Witwatersrand
• Bachelor of Science Honours in Microbiology and Biotechnology (2018) – University of the Witwatersrand
• Postgraduate Diploma in Scientific Studies (2017) - University of the Witwatersrand
• Bachelor of Science in Biomedicine (2013-2015) – Eduvos (Previously: Midrand Graduate Institute)

Skills

• Advanced proficiency in:
  • Next generation sequencing data analysis
  • Liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) data anlysis
  • Big biological and OMICS data analysis
• Programming Skills:
  • Python
  • R
  • SQL
  • Git
  • Linux
  • Bash scripting
  • Docker
  • HTML
  • CSS

• Molecular biology techniques:

• Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)
• Gel electrophoresis
• Nucleic acid Extraction
• Protein extraction and Purification
• Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (RFLP)
• Microbial Cell Culture

Work Experience

• Junior Data Scientist – Fathom Data (2024-)
• Teaching Assistant - Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand (2018-)
• Lecturer and Module Developer - Eduvos (2019-2024)
• Tutor/Marker - Eduvos (2018-2019)
• Work Integrated Learning Program - Dischem Pharmacies (2016)

Certifications and Training

• Proteomics concepts and data analysis - Ubuntu Proteomics Summer School (2023)
• Genome resolved metagenomics - European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI, 2022)
• 16s Microbiome intermediate Training - H3ABioNet(2021)
• Linux Course for Life Scientists - African Centre for Gene Technologies (ACGT, 2020)
• Data science training -CODATA Research Data Summer School (2020)
• Introduction to Bioinformatics course (IBT) - H3ABioNet (2019)

Awards

• Global Young Scientist Summit 2025 - Selected to present my research
• Alex von Holy Prize 2024 - Best PhD student in Microbiology (Wits University)
• Best Oral Speaker (2nd Place) - South African Society of Microbiology
• Youth & Anticipation Award 2023 - (Geneva Science Diplomacy and Anticipation)
• Most Perspicious Lecturer for 3rd Years 2023 - Faculty of Applied science (Eduvos)
• Most Perspicious Lecturer for 2nd Years 2023 - Faculty of Applied science (Eduvos)
• Most Relatable Lecturer for 2nd Years 2023 - Faculty of Applied science (Eduvos)
• Alex von Holy Prize 2023 - Best PhD student in Microbiology (Wits University)
• Best Poster Prize - Ubuntu Proteomics Summer School 2023
• Golden key top achiever - Wits University
• Wits University Postgraduate Merit Award
• National Research Foundation (NRF) Doctoral Scholarship