Gugulethu Shezi

I am a Deputy Director in the Health Research & Knowledge Management (HRKM) &Interim Policy Unit based at the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health, South Africa and have 16 years of experience in public health research. I am also a honorary lecturer at the University of KwaZulu-Natal and currently supervising two postgraduate students. I specialize in public health research and policy, hence my core responsibility of coordinating health research and policies in the province. This is achieved by reviewing research proposals from internal and external researchers that wish to conduct research within public health institutions of the province I also provide secretariat services to the Provincial Health and Research Ethics Committee (PHREC) and the Provincial Policy Committee. I am more interested in community engagement research studies which drove me into conducting my Doctorate degree around the Human Immunodeficiency (HIV) services that are delivered to the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) communities by the community health workers. I am also a reviewer for a couple of peer reviewed journals which include BMC, Traditional Medicine and Current HIV Research. I also assist in training others in research methods, especially academic students who wish to conduct research as part of their curriculum and this I do on an ongoing basis. In future, I see myself being able to formulate policies that will improve health among the communities in our province through evidence-based research outcomes. My hobbies include travelling, cooking and going to the gym.

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