The Centre for Infectious Diseases Research in Zambia (CIDRZ) congratulates its Director for the Tuberculosis programmes, Dr Monde Muyoyeta, for scooping the 2023 HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN) and COVID Prevention Network (COVPN Mentoring Award at the HVTN Full Group Meeting held on 4th May.

The HVTN is the world’s largest publicly funded international collaboration which facilitates the evaluation of vaccines to prevent HIV/AIDS. It helps advance the fields of vaccinology, social and behavioural sciences, statistics, and immunology, as well as tuberculosis and COVID-19 vaccines.

In receiving the award, Dr Muyoyeta expressed her gratitude to HVTN leadership for the recognition and the people who nominated her. “To CIDRZ young investigators I work with, their dedication and drive, keep me going. To CIDRZ, a wonderful organisation that allows individuals to follow their dreams and flourish in their chosen career pathways, I would not choose to be anywhere else but at CIDRZ.” Thank You! She said.

Meanwhile, Dr Muyoyeta also received the Most Innovative Employee Award during the CIDRZ Labour Day award-giving ceremony held on Friday, 5th May 2023.

CIDRZ CEO, Dr Izukanji Sikazwe, congratulated her on her double awards in May.“A big shout out to Dr Muyoyeta, who has been recognised by the HIV Vaccines Trials Network and received a Mentorship Award as a true good Mentor not only to us here at CIDRZ and in Zambia but across the network in recognition of her good leadership and mentorship work”, she said.

Dr Muyoyeta is a Zambian Medical Doctor with a PhD in infectious diseases epidemiology with over 17 years of experience in health systems and research. She is a Clinical Research Site (CSR) Leader of the CoVPN 3008 study at CIDRZ Matero CRS, an HVTN-approved site that has been conducting clinical trials since 2016.