I am Professor of Infectious Disease Epidemiology in the Department of Clinical Research at LSHTM, and Senior Scientist in the Division of Infectious Diseases & Tropical Medicine at LMU Klinikum, Munich. Based in Harare, Zimbabwe, I direct the Health Research Unit Zimbabwe (THRU-Zim) at the Biomedical Research and Training Institute (BRTI).

My work focuses on tuberculosis (TB), antimicrobial resistance, and strengthening health and laboratory systems in high-burden settings. I trained in internal medicine and medical microbiology in the UK and Germany, completing a Wellcome Trust-funded PhD (2008–2011) on active TB case finding and antiretroviral therapy to reduce TB burden in high-HIV-prevalence settings. From 2015 to 2018, I directed Germany’s National and WHO Supranational TB Reference Laboratory at the Research Centre Borstel.

I currently hold or have held leadership roles on a wide portfolio of internationally funded research, including as Principal Investigator on the GACD-funded RESTORE trial and the Novo Nordisk Foundation-funded study on TB and cardiovascular disease, and as Co-Investigator on the Wellcome-funded RadioTB trial and the Gates Foundation-funded STI and adverse pregnancy outcomes study. I co-lead the EDCTP-funded ERASE-TB study evaluating novel diagnostics for early TB detection and targeted preventive treatment, and serve as Senior Scientist on the EDCTP-funded CAP-TB trial assessing the impact of near-patient diagnostics on treatment initiation. My antimicrobial resistance work includes studies in Harare evaluating the impact of the 2019 typhoid conjugate vaccine campaign on antibiotic prescribing.

I contribute to global policy as a member of multiple WHO guideline development groups on TB screening, diagnostics, and testing tools, and sit on several international scientific advisory boards. I am deeply committed to research capacity strengthening: I co-direct the Wellcome-funded CREATE PhD programme and lead the EDCTP-funded Southern African Research Capacity Network (SOFAR), supporting emerging researchers across Zimbabwe, Zambia and Mozambique.

I have authored over 225 peer-reviewed publications (h-index 49) and have received a number of awards for my research, including the 2025 EDCTP Scientific Leadership Prize for a European Woman, the 2023 EDCTP Outstanding Research Team Prize, and the 2020 Chalmers Medal from the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene.