Zvavahera Chirenje

Zvavahera Chirenje is a Professor at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynaecology & Reproductive Sciences, and holds a voluntary Professorship at the University of Zimbabwe's Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences. He serves as Principal Investigator and Director of the University of Zimbabwe Clinical Trials Unit (UZ-UCSF CTU), leading a team of 276 employees in Harare and 5 support staff in San Francisco. Dr. Chirenje’s research focuses on HIV prevention strategies for women, cervical cancer screening in low-resource settings, HPV vaccination, and HIV vaccine development.

His career includes founding the University of Zimbabwe Clinical Trials Research Centre (UZ-CTRC) in 1994, which conducts pivotal HIV prevention trials, including PrEP and vaccine efficacy studies. He has overseen NIH-sponsored networks (ACTG, IMPAACT, HPTN, HVTN) and pioneered the use of visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA) for cervical cancer screening in low-resource environments, impacting 11,000 women in Harare.

Key research interests include:
- Evaluating cervical cancer screening/treatment modalities
- HPV vaccination and testing programs
- Biomedical HIV prevention methods (PrEP)
- HIV vaccine safety/efficacy trials
- COVID-19 vaccine trials

Notable projects include the ZIM-CASCADE clinical trials (NIH UG1CA284918) and the UZ-UCSF CTU (NIH UM1AI069436). Dr. Chirenje has authored over 150 publications, focusing on HIV prevention, cervical cancer, and global health equity. His work emphasizes translating research into policy, such as Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Health guidelines.