Chikondi Malamba Banda, PhD, a laboratory director at UNC Project-Malawi, has received a CRDF Global award for HIV-cure related research in Africa in the amount of $150,000 USD.
“As HIV cure research activities are now being considered for the African settings, this award will help to expand local laboratory capacity to conduct required immunologic assays,” said Mina Hosseinipour, MD, MPH, Scientific Director of UNC Project-Malawi.
“This will also establish Dr. Malamba-Banda as an emerging leader in the field. This is her third major award in the one year since she joined us. Congratulations to Chikondi! We are so proud of this accomplishment.”
The award will build on Malamba-Banda’s Fogarty Global Health Fellowship award, establishing a cohort of “People living with HIV” to have advanced immunologic assays over time, under the mentorship of Nilu Goonetileke, PhD, and Kristina De Paris, PhD.
Combined with a new supplement to expand the capacity of a CD4 machine to enable more advanced immunologic assays, which was awarded to the Malawi Clinical Research Site, one of four site with the Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases’ Clinical Trials Unit, UNC Project Malawi will increasingly be able to lead cure research efforts.
Myron Cohen, MD, director of the Institute commented on Malamba-Banda’s success, and 30+ years of work with UNC Project-Malawi.
“This is a great demonstration of long-term commitment and critical infrastructure.