Phuthumani Mlotshwa

I am a doctoral researcher specializing in diagnostic development for infectious diseases, driven by the goal of improving health outcomes in low-resource settings. My current research projects include:

• Evaluating the effectiveness of a commercial state-of-the-art diagnostic tool.
• Investigating the epidemiology and proteomics of paediatric central nervous system infections in Uganda.
• Exploring sustainable biobanking models to support diagnostics development in resource-limited environments.

I hold a Master of Medical Science in Global Health from Karolinska Institutet, complemented by extensive experience in biomedical sciences within Zimbabwe’s tertiary hospitals and an international public health NGO. My work has centered on:

• Strengthening laboratory quality management systems to achieve accreditation.
• Expanding access to diagnostic testing for HIV treatment monitoring.
• Supporting tuberculosis surveillance and diagnostic capacity.

I previously served on the board of the Swedish Organization for Global Health, where I led the Decolonizing Minds initiative [1]. I am also an alumnus of the Global Shapers Community, a World Economic Forum initiative [2].

[1] http://sogh.se
[2] https://www.globalshapers.org

My research interests are in the development and deployment of diagnostics for infectious diseases in low-resource settings (LRS). I have been involved in the Global Child Health and Sustainable Development Goals [1]* *group’s PIPOC project since February 2020 and am currently part of the KI team in the HoliCare [2] consortium. The projects focus on the development and use of point-of-care diagnostics for infectious diseases in LRS, including the development of supporting infrastructure for localized and sustainable diagnostic ecosystems.

[1] https://ki.se/en/gph/global-child-health-and-sustainable-development-goals-team

[2] https://holicare-project.org

Student Project Supervision: 

• Two MSc in Global Health students for their thesis projects
• Biomedicine student under the KI Summer School in Medical Research.

Lectures:

Master Biomedicine program, course: Applied Biomedical Communication and Professional Development (4BI116), VT2024

• Seminar: Global health from a biomedicine perspective.

PhD Course - Quality assurance in public health research from a global perspective (5740)

• Seminar: REDCap