Lufina Tsirizani-Galileya a Pre-doctoral intern with both the Bacterial and Drug-Resistant Infections and the Malaria Epidemiology groups of MLW has been awarded a PhD scholarship to study Pharmacometrics at University of Cape Town (UCT). She will be based within the division of Clinical Pharmacology at UCT and will be supervised by Associate Professor Paolo Denti, a world-renowned Pharmacometrician.

Lufina will be funded through UCT to work on Pharmacometrics of drugs of infectious diseases in neglected populations. She will explore approaches that will optimize the use of antimalarial, anti-tuberculosis and antiretroviral drugs in children and pregnant women in studies funded by the Wellcome Trust and the Medical Research Council.

Lufina will be trained with one of the best Pharmacometrics groups in the world, which is part of several international collaborations including the modelling groups at the University of Liverpool and Uppsala University. With her training, Lufina will be part of the critical mass needed in the joint COM and MLW efforts to strengthen clinical pharmacology capacity in Malawi.

“I am excited and thankful to be awarded this scholarship. I feel privileged to be accorded the opportunity to do what I love. It is my passion to contribute to drug development and optimize drug therapy in Malawi and the African continent,” said Lufina.

Congratulations, Lufina!