Dr Courtney Olwagen

Dr Courtney Olwagen is the lead molecular microbiologist at Wits VIDA and holds a joint appointment at the University of the Witwatersrand. Her research focuses on infectious diseases and vaccine impact, particularly in children under five. She specialises in genomic epidemiology, molecular surveillance, and next-generation sequencing to evaluate vaccine performance, antimicrobial resistance, and neonatal sepsis. Dr Olwagen has developed high-throughput diagnostic platforms and published in leading journals, including The Lancet Microbe and The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health. She is a recipient of the Robert Austrian Research Award and the Wits Faculty Award for Best Publication. In addition to her research, she actively supervises postgraduate students and supports training initiatives to build local scientific capacity.