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. Her main body of research work straddles the disciplines of ethics and social science to create a complementary body of work that aims to empirically assess the role and potential of grassroots and local stakeholders in shaping health interventions.
Her health social science publications demonstrate that the individuals targeted by health interventions can make valuable contributions to health policy and implementation. Her other most crucial contribution to science is ethics in healthcare and research practice. Her work raises the concern that healthcare ethics and research ethics applied in the African context should not be imported wholesale from Western traditions but based on local understanding and values. 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.

Ernest Yamie Moya
Zomba Site Lead
Ernest currently works as Site Lead at Zomba Research Site and his area of interest is on maternal and child health. Before joining TRUE, he worked as Project Manager at Paediatric and Child Health Association leading a WHO/UNICEF joint funded project aimed at improving the quality of critical neonatal care in 10 referral facilities. One of his achievement in this project is an overall remarkable reduction of in-hospital neonatal death by 33.5% against targeted 12% over two years. Ernest has also worked as a Tutor at Malawi Adventist University, Malamulo College of Health Sciences and Nursing Officer at the Ministry of Health.
Ernest is a PhD student in Public Health at Kamuzu University of Health Sciences and PhD Fellow at a Consortium for Advanced Research Training in Africa (CARTA), cohort 9. He is also a fellow at the Emerging Voice for Global Health (EV4GH). Ernest has a master’s degree in Public Health and a bachelor of science in nursing. During his free time he likes watching soccer and playing volleyball.

Dr. Nyanyiwe Mbeye
EFFICACY Principal Investigator and 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
mCCM 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.

Dr. Thandile Nkosi-Gondwe
PDMC Team Lead
Thandile is a medical Doctor, Research Fellow and Team leader with 10 years’ experience in conceptualizing, designing, and implementing multi-country, multi-site clinical trials, longitudinal studies, and surveys at the Training and Research Unit of Excellence (TRUE). She holds a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) degree from Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, Malawi, and a Doctor of Philosophy degree (PhD) in International Health and Epidemiology from the University of Bergen, Norway.
She is a Co-investigator in the post-discharge malaria chemoprevention (PDMC) Consortium, whereby she leads multiple multi country clinical trials and clinical research studies for malaria prevention utilizing innovative and effective interventions.
In addition to her passion for reducing childhood mortality and promoting maternal health, Thandile is also passionate about promoting and mentoring young women in science.
She is a mother of two children and enjoys travelling around the world.

Glory Mzembe
REVAMP Phase 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.