Malawi Liverpool Wellcome Programme

Population Health

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Who we are

We are working on a strategy to underpin the Population Health Theme and would like this to be as collaborative as possible, including input from the early- and mid-career researchers who may potentially be aligned to the Population Health Theme and who we see as potential future leaders.

What we (will) do

Through shared learning, training, and development, support an emerging pipeline of world-leading Malawian research leaders in population health methodologies. Support outstanding collaborative funding applications to deliver world-leading population health research. Contribute to the strategic direction of MLW by advocating for emphasis on Population Health strategic appointments, resourcing, and infrastructure. Develop and advance MLW and global expertise in population health research methods relevant to low-income settings, particularly:

High-resolution surveillance, epidemiology, and geospatial statistics to inform better-targeted delivery of health interventions
Randomised trial designs, implementation, and analysis methods to rapidly evaluate promising health interventions
Health economics, policy, and implementation science to scale up interventions and measure impact

Augustine Choko, PhD

Co-Theme Lead

I am a Public Health Epidemiologist and a Wellcome Programme & NIHR International Intermediate Fellow based at Malawi Liverpool Wellcome Programme Clinical Research Programme. My interests are in statistical methods and the design and conduct of public health trials. I, along with Prof Liz Corbett are the pioneers of population-based HIV self-testing in Malawi. Our HIV self-testing studies have contributed to policy change in Malawi which now includes HIV self-testing in the national guidelines in July 2018.

Anja Terlouw, PhD

Co-Theme Lead

I am a medical epidemiologist with over twenty years of experience in malaria research, training, teaching, and career mentorship. My areas of interest include malaria pharmaco-epidemiology (Phase II-IV), specifically dose optimization for programmatic use, malaria monitoring and evaluation methods, and capacity strengthening. ORCID = 0000-0001-5327-8995, h-index = 31. > 80 publications

Professor Liz Corbett

Professor - Clinical Epidemiologist

I am a Wellcome Programme Senior Fellow and a Clinical Epidemiologist with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. My main research interests concern HIV and TB in HIV prevalent populations from the public health perspective, with a focus on primary care and community level diagnostic interventions. I work closely with the World Health Organization, with previous membership of the Strategic and Technical Advisory Group for the TB Programme. My research has highlighted the public health importance of undiagnosed infectious TB and community-level interventions providing access to TB and HIV diagnosis. I have ongoing research in self-testing for HIV, TB diagnostic impact evaluations, and spatial epidemiology of TB.

Professor Peter Macpherson

Professor - Public Health Physician

I am an Academic Public Health Physician. My research focuses on the development and evaluation of new health interventions to improve the diagnosis and treatment of priority public health diseases in low-resource settings.

Marriot Nliwasa, PhD

Associate Group Head

I am a postdoctoral researcher in Malawi working on various areas of clinical research and epidemiology. My interest is in infectious and tropical diseases in general but my work for the past 10 years has focused on the following areas : increasing access to HIV testing, tuberculosis (TB) screening in communities and health facilities; and evaluation of new TB diagnostic/screening tests (Xpert MTB/RIF and TB-LAMP, IRISA-TB, digital radiography) and their impact on patient outcomes. I have experience working in academia as well as in public service where I served as a District Health officer in the Ministry of Health.

Marc Henrion, PhD

Associate Group Head

I am a senior lecturer in biostatistics and leads the Statistical Support Unit at MLW since 2017. Originally from Luxembourg, I trained as an undergraduate in Mathematics at Imperial College London. After my PhD in astrostatistics, also at Imperial College London, I moved into statistical genetics for my postdoctoral work, first at the Institute of Cancer Research in the UK, then at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City, USA. My research interests focus on integrative data analyses, flexible regression modelling and applied statistical computational tools.

James Chirombo, PhD

Post-Doctoral Researcher

I completed my PhD in spatial statistics at Lancaster University in 2018 and I am currently working as a biostatistician in the Statistical Support Unit. My research interest lies in building models to characterize the impact of environmental changes including climate variation and change on climate-sensitive infectious diseases. I am also interested in understanding the role of population dynamics on disease spread. Using mathematical and statistical modelling approaches to understand how human mobility patterns, both short- and medium-term contribute to heterogeneity in disease transmission.

Wezzie Lora, PhD

Post-Doctoral Researcher

Wezzie Lora is a Medical Anthropologist with over 10 years’ of work experience in Social Science in health research. She is currently a Post-doctoral Research Associate at the Malawi Liverpool Wellcome Programme where she leads research focusing on HIV research, biomedical technologies, pandemic preparedness, and resilience. Much of her work has been on understanding the relationship between individuals and biomedical technologies employing various research designs like qualitative research and mixed research methods and has directly impacted public health and informed global and national policies and guidelines. Her research has included general, vulnerable, and marginalised populations in rural and urban settings. Through her expertise, Wezzie has been involved in a number of multi-sited studies and contributes to multi-disciplinary teams. Wezzie is also an honorary faculty member at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, where she provides supervision to MSc and PhD students and teaches the MSc Public Health course. Wezzie is currently involved in the AMETHIST study implemented in Malawi, Zimbabwe and South Africa. In this study, Wezzie is leading the research activities in Malawi to understand the context and patterns of sex work and transitions into and out of sex work. The outcomes of this study will provide a better understanding of sex work and the development of an intervention for female sex workers in Malawi, and in similar settings.

Chimwemwe Kwanjo-Banda, PhD

Post-Doctoral Researcher

I am public health specialist with experience in quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods studies. I hold a PhD in public health from Kamuzu University of Health Sciences (KUHeS). I am currently working as a coordinator for the START 4-ALL (Start taking action for TB diagnosis) study.

Alexander Schade

PhD Student

I am a trauma and orthopaedic surgeon in the West Midlands deanery. After conducting my undergraduate at King’s College London (2010), I undertook my medical degree at the University of Bristol (2015). During this time, I volunteered in trauma centres in Uganda and Cambodia. I then completed his academic foundation programme and academic clinical fellowship in the West Midlands. More recently, I gained my master's in Public Heath from the University of Warwick (2020) and have spent 4months at MLW conducting preliminary studies for my PhD on open tibia fractures in Malawi.

Mphatso Phiri

PhD Student

I am a medical doctor with skills in epidemiology, statistics, and transmission modelling. My research interests span evaluating diagnostics and strategies to improve TB detection, especially among vulnerable groups with poor access to care. I hold a medical degree from the University of Malawi, College of Medicine, and an MSc in Epidemiology from LSHTM funded through a Wellcome Trust Master’s Fellowship in Public Health & Tropical Medicine which I held from 2017 to 2021.

Latif Ndeketa

PhD Student

I hold a medical degree from the University of Malawi, College of Medicine, and an MSc in Vaccinology from the University of Siena, Italy. I am currently studying for a Ph.D. in Epidemiology with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine distance learning programme. I am highly motivated to contribute to the accelerated reduction of morbidity and mortality of vaccine-preventable diseases in Malawi through novel surveillance methods for vaccine programmes.

Hannah Rickman

PhD Student

I am an infectious diseases and adult internal medicine registrar from the UK, with a master’s in public health from Johns Hopkins University. I am working on a PhD with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (supervisors Peter MacPherson, Liz Corbett and Emily Nightingale) which is investigating the prevalence and spatial distribution of TB infection in Blantyre.

Don Mategula

PhD Student

I am a medical doctor, epidemiologist and public health expert contributing to research, implementation and practice of health interventions that reduce high burden diseases in Africa. I have special interest in infectious diseases, particularly malaria and vaccine preventable diseases; with a focus on identifying transmission reduction strategies, targeted control approaches and robust surveillance strategies in both space & time.

Patrick Kalonde

PhD Student

I am PhD student hosted under Public Health Research Group. My focus is on exploring Geospatial Methods for Public Health Surveillance in Urban Environment. Currently, I have been using cutting-edge geospatial tools for mapping plastics that are disposed off in urban communities, exploring their dispersal patterns and associations with human health. This PhD is embedded within SPACES project, an interdisciplinary project funded through UK National Environmental Research Council (NERC) Global Challenges fund. Prior to this PhD I studied for a Master’s of Science in Geographical Information Science through the Fulbright program.

Takondwa Msosa

PhD Student

I am a medical doctor and public health scientist who is currently a Research Fellow at the Helse Nord Tuberculosis Initiative and the Malawi Liverpool Wellcome Trust. Additionally, I am a doctoral candidate at the Amsterdam Institute of Global Health and Development. For my doctoral studies, I will be investigating the effect of cost-effectiveness of real time medication monitor based digital adherence tools in improving HIV treatment outcomes in young people living with HIV in urban Blantyre. I graduated from the University of Malawi with a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) in 2015. I hold a Masters of Public Health with Distinction from the University of Edinburgh which I completed in 2020 under the prestigious Beit Trust Scholarship and hold a Diploma in Computer Studies from the National College of Information Technology.

Robina Semphere

PhD Student

I am an enthusiastic medical doctor with a passion for Paediatrics, public health and research. I am a trained epidemiologist with The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. I have recently accepted an offer to study with Glasgow University.

Jessie Khaki

PhD Student

I am a PhD Student in Statistics and Epidemiology studying with Lancaster University.

Nicholas Riches

PhD Student

I am particularly interested in clinical epidemiology (including interactions between infectious and non-infectious diseases); infectious disease surveillance and control; and the design and delivery of population-level interventions. I am currently conducting my PhD research on chronic liver epidemiology in Malawi, based at the Malawi Epidemiology and Intervention Research Unit (MEIRU).

Madalo Mukoka

PhD Student

I am a PhD student with London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and interested in optimizing the delivery of Public Health Interventions through social networks. I have been a research fellow with Helse Nord Tuberculosis Initiative for the past 5 years where I was supported to pursue a Master of Science in Epidemiology. I have experience in conducting diagnostic studies, clinical trials and observational studies in Malawi

Hussein Twabi

PhD Student

I am an infectious disease epidemiology fellow with the Kamuzu University of Health Sciences (KUHeS). I have 4 years’ research experience and have been involved in the design, regulatory organisation, and clinical oversight of cluster randomised and randomised control trials for tuberculosis in Malawi, as well as the design and conduct of systematic reviews. I am currently pursuing a PhD with the University of Liverpool with the broad focus of microbiological interventions to improve maternal health in rural Malawi.

Wala Kamchedzera

PhD Student

I am a Pre-PhD Intern working within the fields of Health Economics and Epidemiology. My research interests are in exploring and evaluating innovative interventions that seek to improve public health outcomes in low-income countries through a Wellcome International Master’s Fellowship. I hold an MSc in Epidemiology from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and a Bachelor of Social degree (majoring in Economics) from the University of Malawi.

Kennedy Zembere

Pre-PhD Trainee

I am a vector biology researcher with an interest in biology, ecology and behaviour of disease vectors. I desire to see a malaria-free world by conducting research leading towards the development and application of novel tools which will contribute to the reduction of malaria and other vector borne diseases. I hold an MSc in Tropical Disease Biology from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and Bachelor of Education Sciences degree from the University of Malawi, Chancellor College. I am now working as a Pre-PhD trainee under the vector biology research group at MLW. My current research involves assessing the sugar feeding behaviour of anopheline mosquitoes and its impact on malaria control in Chikwawa.

Vester Gunsaru

Biostatistician

I am a Biostatistician with a passion for using data-driven evidence to improve public health outcomes. I hold a Master of Science Degree in Mathematical Science and a Master of Science Degree in Public Health, specializing in Epidemiology and Biostatistics. With over four years of experience in the public health field, my expertise is in utilizing statistical methods to analyze healthcare data. My work contributes to the design and analysis of clinical trials and observational studies, providing valuable input for evidence-based decision-making.

Evaristar Kudowa

Biostatistician

I am an experienced Biostatistician with a passion for identifying new and effective statistical methodologies to advance clinical research. I hold a BSc in Statistics and Computing and MSc in Biostatistics. My current research interests lie in integrative data analysis (IDA). Specifically, I am developing a methodology for IDA of Liverpool and Malawi studies on pneumococcal carriage, which has the potential to form the basis of my future PhD studies. In my role as a Biostatistician, I provide statistical support to researchers, and I've co-authored several peer-reviewed papers.

Alice Mnyanga

MSc - Research Assistant

I am a Research Assistant interested in developing my scientific knowledge and laboratory skills in using novel and advanced diagnostic tools for the early diagnosis of infectious diseases. I have extensive experience in molecular biology and immunology techniques in HIV/TB research studies. My current research projects are on investigating the aetiology of respiratory illness and how improved diagnostics can reduce the burden of antimicrobial resistance. I have a BSc in Medical Laboratory Technology from University of Malawi, College of Medicine (currently KUHeS) and I am currently pursuing a Master of Health Science (Antimicrobial Stewardship) at the same university.

Frank Chikapa

Field Research Assistant

I am Senior Field Research Assistant and Community Engagement personnel for the public health group. I hold a BSC in public health and disease control. I am keen on pursuing a Masters in Public Health and becoming a research scientist and coordinator.

Luke Banda

Senior Project Manager

I am a Project management professional (PMP) working in the Public Health Research Group at Malawi Liverpool Wellcome Programme as a Senior Project Manager. I hold a bachelor’s degree in education (graduated), a Micromasters in International Project Management (pending), and a Masters in Organisational Psychology (graduated). Over the course of my career, I have received training and certifications in monitoring and evaluation (M & E), Data use for program managers, evidence-informed decision making (EIDM), HIV/AIDS Surveillance, ECD programming, qualitative research and improving health care quality.

Hannah Mbale

Clinical Trial Coordinator

I am a clinical trial coordinator, with a passion and comparable skills in clinical trial management and coordination. I hold a Master of Science in Clinical Research and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and Midwifery. I have 2 years’ experience in project coordination and management. My current research interest is in public health priority infectious diseases (TB, COVID & HIV).

Thandiwe Gondwe

Group Administrator

I am Group Administrator at Malawi Liverpool Wellcome Programme with 12 years’ work experience. I provide administrative support for the Public Health Group which has more than 10 international studies including LIGHT Consortium. I render support in ethics submissions, financial reports and scheduling scientific meetings, trainings, and conferences. I hold a bachelor’s degree in business administration.

START4ALL

Sustainable Community Wide Approach in Lung Health (SCALE)

TIMASAMALA

Leaving no-one behind, transforming Gendered Pathways to Health for TB (LIGHT)

FISH

Partners for an inclusive society: Reflections on the recently launched Malawi male engagement strategy

Celebrating the Gender and TB Partnership in Malawi

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