Q: Please tell us a little bit about yourself 

A: I am a general physician and with experience in clinical work, health programs implementation, teaching and research. I worked with the Malawi Ministry of Health for two years before joining Partners in Health (PIH), where I served as a Medical Director for Neno District. During my time at PIH, I worked with the clinical team to design and implement an integrated chronic care clinic, a unique model, which leverages on a robust HIV program as a platform for NCD screening and treatment. I also established a Palliative care clinic, which takes care of patients and families suffering from terminal illnesses. In 2016 joined the College of Medicine, University of Malawi, where I successfully led the curriculum development and implementation of a Master of Science in Global Health Implementation. As a Lecturer, I taught postgraduate courses in Quality Improvement and Implementation Science and sat on technical working groups on Quality Management and NCDs. I hold a medical degree from the University of Malawi and MSc in Global Health Delivery from Harvard University. I am currently studying for a doctorate in Global Health- Implementation Science at the University of Washington.  

Q: Why did you decide to attend the UW for graduate school? 

A: During my time at PIH, I had observed that a lot of patients were suffering and dying from easily preventable and treatable diseases because our health system was not well prepared to deliver evidence-based interventions to those in need. I therefore developed an interest to understand and address bottlenecks to health care delivery. I then learnt of the many great courses being delivered at UW and in 2018, I decided to participate in an intensive course on Fundamentals of Implementation Science. This course exposed me to various scientific methods and frameworks to promote the systematic uptake of evidence-based interventions into routine practice. I also took advantage of my time at UW to interact with faculty and students who made me appreciate the great expertise and resources within the School of Public Health and supported my application for a doctorate degree in Implementation Science. My goal is to develop a Center of Implementation Science Research within the University of Malawi that will help improve the delivery of high impact evidence-based interventions in Malawi.

Q: What are your research interests?

A: My research interests focus on addressing bottlenecks to primary health care delivery in limited resource settings, particularly focusing on HIV/ NCD integration.

Q: What are you enjoying most about your graduate program?

A: I enjoy interacting with my colleagues and faculty within the Department of Global Health learning about their implementation research experiences.