Zimbabwe Scholars Celia Matyanga and Doreen Mhandire Complete Mentored HIV Research Training at UB
Doreen Duri, Waheed Adedeji and Celia Matyanga saying goodbye to their US host Veronica Hogel
Published December 19, 2017 This content is archived.
Celia Matyanga and Doreen Mhandire, both HIV Research Training Program scholars, traveled to Buffalo from the University of Zimbabwe College of Health Sciences.
Matyanga and Mhandire are doctoral candidates who have finalized their doctoral research proposals to investigate HIV in Africa. Both Celia and Doreen will be mentored in Buffalo by Gene Morse, PharmD, SUNY Distinguished Professor at the University at Buffalo and Director of the Center for Integrated Global Biomedical Sciences (CIGBS); Qing Ma, PhD, Department of Pharmacy Practice; Charles Venuto, PharmD, Department of Neurology at the University of Rochester; Robin DiFrancesco, MBA, CIGBS Scientific Manager and Joshua Sawyer, PharmD, Department of Pharmacy Practice. In Zimbabwe, Charles Chiedza Maponga, PharmD, MPHE, Senior Lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe, Prof. Charles FB Nhachi, PhD, MSc; and Prof Mazuru Gundidza, chairperson of the Department of Pharmaceutical Technology at the Harare Institute of Technology.
Matyanga's research proposal is entitled, “The Effect of African Potato (Hypoxis hemerocallidea) on the Pharmacokinetics of Tenofovir and Lamivudine.” The aim of the research is to investigate the effect of African potato on the pharmacokinetics of tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) and lamivudine in HIV-infected patients.
Mhandire’s research proposal is investigating HIV-infected pregnant women to determine the risk and rate of in-utero and post-natal vertical transmission of cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection to their infants. Another proposed objective of her project is to determine the contribution of antiretroviral therapy exposure, host genetics and gut microbiome to CMV acquisition and transmission. Mhandire’s main areas of research lie in the pharmacogenomics of antiretroviral therapy with special interest in non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors in pregnant women.
The UB-UZCHS HIV Research Training Program is supported by the NIH Fogarty International Center and is a postgraduate fellowship training initiative with an emphasis on HIV/AIDS clinical pharmacology between the University at Buffalo (UB) and the University of Zimbabwe College of Health Sciences (UZCHS). Program faculty at both institutions provide mentoring to UZ scholars who, in turn, will contribute clinical pharmacology and drug development expertise to multidisciplinary teams to achieve HIV/AIDS research goals for Zimbabwe.