Pheletso Letuka

CHI research group: Cardiac Imaging and Inflammation 

Pheletso Letuka is a PhD candidate in Medicine at the University of Cape Town and is part of the Cardiac Imaging and Inflammation research group. She is also part of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Rising Stars cohort in South Africa. She is a co-founder of The Nerd Corner; a partnership aimed at improving academic writing amongst postgraduate students in the field of health research, in South Africa. Pheletso’s main interests include: phenotyping resistant hypertension; and understanding the role of immunology and the gut microbiome in the pathophysiology of difficult to treat hypertension. She is passionate about representation in academia, health equity, the role of Pan Africanism in health research and teaching. 

Research engagements:

·         Cardiovascular imaging

·         Resistant hypertension

·         Immunophenotyping

·         Phenotyping the gut and oral microbiome