Malizgani Paul Chavula

• Lecturer and Researcher in the Department of Community and Family Medicine, University of Zambia

Dr Chavula is a dedicated public health researcher and lecturer at the University of Zambia, School of Public Health, and completed his PhD in Public Health at the Department of Epidemiology and Global Health at Umeå University in Sweden in April 2026. His expertise spans community health, adolescent sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), public health promotion, social sciences, and multisectoral governance. Dr Chavula holds an MPH in Health Promotion and Education and a BAE in Education Administration and Policy Studies.

He began his career as an assessor on community‐based HIV and DREAMS projects with the University of Miami, where he engaged with communities, collected field data, and supported programme evaluation. These early roles laid the foundation for his transition into senior research positions, where he led field teams, coordinated studies, and generated evidence for national HIV and adolescent health programmes. Over the past decade, Dr Chavula has become a Principal Investigator, senior researcher, and grant manager for major projects funded by USAID, WHO, the Global Fund, UNICEF, the Swedish Research Council, the University of Michigan, and the University of Miami.

He now designs studies, manages multidisciplinary research teams, collaborates with global partners, and supports evidence‐informed policy and practice. Dr Chavula's work spans Zambia, Sweden, the United States, Norway, Uganda, Lesotho, South Africa, Mozambique, Ethiopia, and Malawi, with a focus on adolescent SRHR, community health systems, implementation science, health policy, and governance.

His research portfolio includes participatory implementation science on HIV and TB in Zambia and Uganda; studies on gender, stigma, and behavioural change; and analyses of community‐level decision‐making in public health. Dr Chavula serves as a Senior Collaborator with the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (Global Burden of Disease) at Washington University and was a Co‐Investigator for the 2022 Mortality Study for the National TB and Leprosy Program in the Kingdom of Lesotho. He has also coordinated Global Fund research on HIV, TB, and malaria in Zambia, examining barriers to SRH, HIV, and GBV services for adolescent girls and young women.

His work further covers gender integration, women's participation in health research, and community engagement for Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision (VMMC). Dr Chavula also leads a major project on collaborative governance in delivering comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) in Zambia, funded by the Swedish Research Council/Umeå University and the University of Michigan, in partnership with the Centre for International Reproductive Health Training. Additionally, he has directed research on sexuality and life‐skills education in youth clubs, supported by NORPART and the University of Bergen.

Finally, Dr Chavula has authored and co‐authored more than 40 peer‐reviewed publications in high‐impact journals.

• –present Lecturer and Researcher in the Department of Community and Family Medicine, University of Zambia

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