RESEARCH
Meet The Team Leads
Dr. Lucinda Manda-Taylor
Social Science Team Lead
Lucinda is an Associate Professor in Applied Ethics and Social Science Research Methods at Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, formerly College of Medicine, University of Malawi. She is a passionate researcher with extensive experience in global health, bioethics, and implementation research in low-resource settings. Her work focuses on advancing equitable, contextually acceptable, and evidence-informed health interventions, particularly in maternal and child health, with a specific emphasis on malaria, anaemia in pregnancy, maternal mental health, and mental health more broadly.
She provides leadership in interdisciplinary research, capacity
strengthening, and postgraduate mentorship, with a strong track record
of securing, managing, and collaborating on international research
grants, and generating policy-relevant evidence. She is committed to
translating research into practice through meaningful stakeholder
engagement, collaborative partnerships, and ethically grounded
approaches that improve health outcomes in Malawi and across sub-Saharan-Africa. Lucinda is a wife and mother of two children, and in her spare time, she enjoys working out and is a certified and licensed group fitness instructor.
Dr. Nyanyiwe Mbeye
PDMC SAM Team Lead
Highly experienced in both field and clinic-based research, Dr Mbeye is currently a Lecturer in Public Health and Epidemiology at Kamuzu University of Health Sciences and a Research Scientist at the Training and Research Unit of Excellence. Holds a PhD in Health Sciences, a Masters degree in Epidemiology, a Masters in Public Health, a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing, a University Certificate in Midwifery. Dr Mbeye is a health guidelines development expert having reviewed and formulated several national and program documents in Malawi and conducts workshops on Evidence based related short courses.
Dr Mbeye is currently a Malawi Principal Investigator for an EDCTP funded Global Evidence, Local Adaptation (GELA) project aimed at enhancing evidence-informed guideline recommendations for newborn and young child health in Malawi, Nigeria and South Africa. She is also a PI for an observational study to investigate the Efficacy, safety, and pharmacokinetic exposure of lumefantrine artemether for the treatment of uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria in HIV infected Malawian children on antiretroviral treatment.
Her systematic review on task shifting of pharmacy services informed the development of related WHO guidelines. After the Post-doctoral research fellowship at the Centre for Evidence Based Health Care, Stellenbosch University in Cape Town, South Africa, Dr Mbeye returned home with immense experience with using research evidence for decision making for policy and practice. She has recently established the first ever academic unit in Evidence informed Decision making (EvIDenCe) at the Kamuzu University of Health Sciences (formerly College of Medicine). In 2020, she was the 2020 Anne Anderson Award Prize Recipient from Cochrane for her work in evidence-based health care. She is interested in evidence synthesis, knowledge translation, evidence informed decision making and evidence generation.
Dr. Tinashe Tizifa
PDMCC Implement Team Lead
Dedicated public health professional with 10+ years of experience, and expertise in supporting individuals and groups to satisfy a range of requirements in order to promote health and prevent disease. Demonstrated proficiency in community engagement, health communication, and program development. Knowledgeable about developing and putting into action health education initiatives that benefit underserved populations. Exceptional study/project management skills including coordinating the Majete Malaria Project from 2016 – 2019.
Education: MBBS, Completing PhD with the University of Amsterdam, University Medical Centers, The Netherlands.
Maclean Vokhiwa
Birth Cohort Study (BICO) Lead
Maclean Vokhiwa is an expert in neurodevelopmental research. He leads BICO, which is a prospective, descriptive, in-depth study of a cohort of infants born in ongoing IRMA, IMPROVE and REVAMP group of studies being conducted by TRUE in Southern Malawi. BICO aims to identify infants at risk of poor developmental outcomes early in life by investigating how risk factors which operate in pregnancy and infancy impact on cognitive development. Its long-term goal is to develop this population into a Birth Cohort that is followed up through their childhood and later stages in their life.
Glory Mzembe
R21-PD and PRoRota Team Lead
Glory Mzembe is a Medical Doctor and Epidemiologist with a strong passion in improving maternal and child health in Malawi and Sub-Saharan Africa. She is currently a Research Fellow and Study Physician at the Training and Research Unit of Excellence (TRUE), where she is managing a couple of clinical trials and observational studies on interventions and innovations that could help improve the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of infectious diseases and nutritional deficiencies in children and pregnant women.
She is also leading in research evaluating the impact of maternal pregnancy interventions on child health. Glory has amassed experience in conducting large-scale clinical trials and observational studies, especially in children and pregnant women in Malawi. She has vast experience in designing, setting up, and implementing large clinical trials and cohort studies, including data analysis, report writing, and publication of results. She is well acquainted with the Malawian research community, including the various institutional review boards and regulatory authorities. Previously, she worked with the Malawi Liverpool Wellcome Trust (MLW) and Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital.