March 5^th  2015

Katundu Katunda MSc,

Laboratory Manager & Virology Scholar, Cervical Cancer Research Capacity Initiative (CCRCI)

In 2011, as the virology scholar in the National Cancer Institute-funded CCRCI training program, Katundu spent one year in the laboratory of Professors Thomas Broker and Louise Chow at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, his main focus being to determine the diagnostic capability of protein biomarkers of human papillomavirus (HPV) disease. Following this Katundu returned to Zambia and, in addition to several other projects, developed the HPV DNA testing capability at the CIDRZ Central Laboratory. His research focus is HPV and their oncogenic potential in cancer of the cervix. Until recently, Katundu had been coordinating a study on the effect of cryotherapy on HIV shedding and HPV clearance. His current research focuses on the diagnostic capability of HPV point-of-care tests to identify women that are most-at-risk of developing cervical cancer.

Katundu received a BSc in Pharmacology from the University of Leeds, UK and an MSc in Molecular Biology of Parasites and Disease Vectors from the University of Liverpool, UK and has been a Research Associate at Novartis Pharmaceuticals, under the umbrella of the Novartis Next Generation Scientist program.