I am Kaitlyn Rangasamy, a Bioinformatics Honours student with a strong interest in applying computational approaches to understand complex biological systems.

I am currently working under the supervision of Dr Thabiso Motaung and Dr Rian Pierneef on a research project investigating extracellular vesicles (EVs) and their role in plant–fungal interactions, with a particular focus on conifer species.

The project aims to develop and optimise bioinformatic pipelines for the analysis of small RNA (sRNA) sequencing data derived from EVs. By comparing RNA profiles between vesicles and their source tissues, we seek to identify candidate sRNAs that may contribute to antifungal activity and cross-kingdom communication. This work builds on international collaborative research spanning South Africa and the United States, integrating phenotypic and molecular data to better understand vesicle-mediated defence mechanisms in plants.

Through this research, I will be developing expertise in reproducible bioinformatics workflows, RNA data analysis, and the integration of computational and experimental biology, with the broader goal of contributing to advances in plant health and pathogen resistance.