Tom Nyirenda

Dr Nyirenda is the strategic partnerships and capacity development manager of an EU-Africa programme called European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP). He is a public health physician and research scientist with over 26 years’ experience of working in sub-Saharan Africa in control, prevention and clinical research for infectious diseases.

He trained in medicine at the University of St Andrews (Scotland), St Mary’s Hospital (London) and College of Medicine of Malawi. He did his public health training at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Before joining EDCTP in 2004, he worked as a district health officer and tuberculosis national research officer for the health ministry in Malawi and later as a medical officer for the World Health Organization (WHO) within the Stop TB Department in Geneva before moving to the WHO country office in Malawi. His contribution to TB control included participation in establishing an operational research programme with the Malawi National TB Control Programme for TB/HIV control in pre-ARV era and as WHO medical officer for DOTS research projects in African countries. In his early years at EDCTP he was a TB projects focal person for the organisation. He has published a book chapter and over 60 papers in peer reviewed journals. His role in teaching has included moderation of MSc studentship courses at the University of the Witwatersrand (South Africa), honorary lectureship of public health at College of Medicine of the University of Malawi, and he is currently Extraordinary Senior Lecturer in the Department of Global Health of University of Stellenbosch (South Africa). Beside his current role at EDCTP, he is also chairperson for the Africa Academy of Sciences Advisory Board on Clinical Trials Capacity Data Base programme (CTC), and represents EDCTP (in both official and personal capacity) on several committees such as the NEPAD AMRH/AVAREF, African CDC Task Force on COVID-19, Global COVID-19 Coalition, and the Global Burden of Disease of Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation.