Mireille Kamariza is a junior fellow at the Harvard Society of Fellows and she is a postdoctoral fellow in the Sabeti Lab at Harvard University and the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT. Her work focuses on developing accessible diagnostic platforms that target a wide range of infectious diseases highly endemic in the developing world. In addition, she is interested in using these platforms to study the factors associated with disease presentation, progression, and outcomes in sub saharan Africa.

In her research, Mireille utilizes the RNA targeting CRISPR/Cas system, Cas13, to detect pathogenic RNAs from emerging infections, with a particular focus on diseases endemic in West Africa. In particular, Mireille is developing a CRISPR-Cas13 high-throughput detection assay for a panel of viruses, bacteria, and parasites, including (but not limited to) Lassa Virus, Ebola Virus, Dengue Virus, and many others. She designs optimized probe/guide assays to target diverse sequences, improving the sensitivity of high-throughput detection. Mireille also works closely with partners in Nigeria with the goal to implement these technologies locally and detect emerging infections in these regions. 

Mireille obtained her Ph.D. in Biology (with a focus in Chemical Biology) from Stanford University. During her PhD, Mireille developed a new diagnostic technology for the rapid and simple detection of tuberculosis (TB) at the point-of-care. Mireille was a recipient of the Ruth L. Kirschstein Pre-Doctoral National Research Service (F31) Award from the National Institutes of Health and the Diversifying Academia, Recruiting Excellence Doctoral Fellowship from Stanford University for her graduate work. Prior to this, Mireille completed her masters degree from the University of California, Berkeley in Molecular and Cell Biology, where she was a Chancellor’s Fellow and a National Science Foundation Bridge to the Doctorate Graduate Fellow. As well, she completed her bachelor’s degree from the University of California, San Diego in Biochemistry and Chemistry where she was a recipient of the Maximizing Access to Research Careers Award from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences and a HHMI scholar.