Lizzie Tchongwe-Divala is a Wellcome Trust Masters Fellow in Public Health and Tropical Medicine with the Malaria Group (Vector Biology). Lizzie, a molecular biologist, has a passion to contribute to malaria research focusing on the interaction of the parasites, disease vectors and the host at a molecular level. She holds a BSc in medical laboratory sciences from College of Medicine and a mMaster’s degree in Molecular Biology from Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, United Kingdom.
Lizzie’s current study; Identifying the mechanisms of insecticide resistance in Anopheles gambiae s.s. and Anopheles arabiensis in Chikwawa, Malawi, focuses on developing a molecular-based tool which could lead to novel malaria monitoring and evaluation approaches. The aim of the study is to utilise transcriptomic approaches to characterise insecticide resistance in the malaria mosquitoes Anopheles gambiae s.s. and An. arabiensis from the lower Shire Malawi to develop parasite resistance diagnostics for routine monitoring and evaluation.
She has worked in a clinical laboratory for 4 years where she held several leadership positions of head of department, quality assurance supervisor, and laboratory accreditation team leader. Lizzie followed her research career dream and joined the MLW Malaria group where she has been since June 2016.