Dr. Fortunate Machingura

The Center for Sexual Health and HIV AIDS Research (CeSHHAR), Zimbabwe
fortunate.machingura@ceshhar.org

Dr Fortunate Machingura is a development anthropologist of Southern Africa undertaking social science research, evaluation, and programming to increase health service coverage and uptake among key populations. She currently serves as the Research Director – Key Populations at the Center for Sexual Health and HIV AIDS Research (CeSHHAR  Zimbabwe). She is a Co-PI in multiple HIV prevention projects in Southern Africa and is also a Co-PI in the EMDIYA (Ethics for Mental health Digital Innovations for Youth in Africa) project.

Dr Machingura holds a PhD in Development Policy and Management from the University of Manchester, UK, an MSc in Population Studies, Certifications in public health, and a BSc in food nutrition studies. She retains a heightened interest in behavioural cross-sectional and longitudinal qualitative studies, participatory research, and randomised controlled trials in HIV prevention. Dr Machingura is particularly keen on the anthropology of health, gender, violence, poverty, inequality, sexual and reproductive health, and especially among female sex workers, women, and sexual minorities in Southern Africa. She also evaluates the effectiveness of population interventions aimed at HIV prevention including on condom, PrEP, and ART uptake.

Before joining CeSHHAR Dr Machingura was a postdoctoral fellow at the Global Development Institute with the University of Manchester, a Research Fellow in the Growth Poverty and Inequality Programme with the Overseas Development Institute in London.  She also served as the Deputy Chief of Party for RTI International working in the Zimbabwe Ministry of Health and Child Care in the Division of Preventive Services working on the Zimbabwe Electronic Health Records [EHR]System. She has supported the Ministry of Health in transitioning from DSHIS 1.4 to DHSI2 and supported the design and development of the frontline digital health platforms including the early infant diagnosis [EID] system, the electronic maternal and perinatal death notification system [eMPDNS], the digitisation and rollout of the HIV testing services, OI/ART, e-Partogram and Commodity management systems and other. Dr Machingura is an HIV modeling affiliate with the University College London, a fellow with the University of Sheffield, and collaborates with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, and the University of Oxford.

Dr Machingura research also engages the implementation and evaluation of SDGs, community-based development initiatives along with assessing mental health dynamics among key populations, and the governance of life in the global south. She welcomes research partnerships and collaborations in any of those areas.

Dr. Fortunate Machingura