My name is Alicia Vermeulen and I am currently a PhD Microbiology candidate in the Department of Microbiology, Genetics and Biochemistry. I completed my BSc undergraduate degree in Human Genetics in 2015 at the University of Pretoria. I then went on to complete my BSc (Hons) Medical Virology in 2016 and my MSc in Medical Virology in 2019 also at the University of Pretoria. Between 2020 and 2022 I worked as a staff scientist at a private diagnostic laboratory.  I joined the FABI Avocado Research Programme in late 2022 and will be working under the supervision of Prof. Noëlani van den Berg.