Mackwellings Phiri is a social scientist at the Malawi Liverpool Wellcome Research Programme. He holds a Master’s degree in Global Health from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. His work focuses on the social and ethical dimensions of global health, including infectious diseases, antimicrobial resistance, vaccine uptake, and research ethics.

Mackwellings has extensive experience designing and implementing qualitative and participatory research, securing ethics approvals, and leading community engagement initiatives. He has authored a range of peer-reviewed publications.

Throughout his career, he has collaborated with multidisciplinary research teams, policymakers, and communities across Malawi and other African countries to generate evidence that informs health policy and practice. Selected publications in health systems strengthening and community resilience include: Exploration of the social determinants of diarrhoea, rotavirus vaccine uptake, and vaccine ‘fatigue’ in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Malawi and Factors influencing uptake of COVID-19 diagnostics in Sub-Saharan Africa: a rapid scoping review