Dalitso Maluza-Ndaferankhande is a Commonwealth PhD Scholar at the University of Birmingham, affiliated with the Malawi Liverpool Wellcome Research Programme. Her work focuses on maternal and perinatal mental health, with particular attention to improving bereavement support for parents following pregnancy and neonatal loss in low-resource settings, through adapting and piloting a community-based intervention in Malawi. With over a decade of experience in research and programme management, her expertise includes qualitative and mixed-methods research, systematic reviews, Delphi methods, community engagement, and implementation research.

She has co-authored two peer-reviewed publications in PLOS ONE and Global Health Action, contributing to the evidence base on maternal and perinatal wellbeing: Exploring the return-on-investiment for scaling screening and psychosocial treatment for women with common perinatal mental heal problems in Malawi: Developing a cost-benefit-calculator tool and Using maternal sepsis patient journey to map and prioritise barriers to quality maternal healthcare in Malawi: a multidisciplinary stakeholders consultation workshop.