Victor Mwapasa

Victor Mwapasa is a public health expert, research scientist and Professor at the Kamuzu University of Health Sciences (KUHeS), formerly known as the University of Malawi, College of Medicine (CoM). He obtained his medical degree from the University of Malawi (CoM) in 1994 and Masters in Public Health and doctorate degrees from the University of Michigan (USA) in 1999 and 2003, respectively. In 2018, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Science from Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (UK) in recognition of his scientific contribution to HIV and malaria research and public health in Malawi. He has previously served in many senior positions at KUHeS including Associate Director of the Malawi-Liverpool-Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Program; Director of the Research Support Center; Head of Department of Public Health; Dean of Postgraduate Studies and Research and Chairperson of the KUHeS Research and Ethics Committee. His research focuses on the epidemiology of malaria and HIV, including assessing the efficacy and effectiveness of novel diagnostic tests and interventions and evaluating public health implementation strategies. He has expertise in health research capacity development in resource-limited settings and currently leads research capacity development initiatives funded by the National Institutes of Health (USA) and Wellcome Trust (UK). He serves in various national and international policy-making and strategic committees including Malawi Pharmacy and Medicine Board, Malawi National AIDS Commission’s HIV Research and Surveillance Technical Working Committee, UK Medical Research Council’s Applied Global Health Research Board and Wellcome Trust’s Population and Public Health Expert Review Group. Currently, he is the chairperson of the “Malawi Expert Group on COVID-19” which advises the Ministry of Health on strategies and policies for managing COVID-19 in Malawi.