Preparing health workers for COVID-19: Laboratory Testing
Join us on Wednesday, April 8 for a live webinar, sharing practical steps on preparing your health facility and workers for COVID-19. This week we will be focusing on the laboratory diagnosis with expert speakers, Professor Gerlad Misinzo of Sokoine University and Dr. Mwau Matilu, Deputy Director Kemri.
During this webinar, you can learn:
1. The laboratory testing currently available for sub-Saharan Africa
2. Equipment, staffing and commodity requirements with special attention to infection prevention and staff safety
3. How to perform common laboratory tests for COVID-19
During the webinar, you will receive downloadable resources for your patients and staff to get informed and stay safe during this pandemic.
Speaker bios
Professor Gerald Misinzo, Sokoine University of Agriculture, Tanzania
Gerald Misinzo (BVM, MSc, PhD) is an associate professor of veterinary virology at the Sokoine University of Agriculture in Tanzania. He holds a Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine from Sokoine Universoty of Agriculture, Tanzania (2000), Master of Science in Molecular Biology from KULeuven, Belgium (2003) and a PhD in Veterinary Medicine from University of Gent, Belgium (2007). Since 2009, he has served as principal investigator of influenza-like illnesses and severe acute respiratory infections program of the Global Emerging Infections Surveillance at PharmAccess Tanzania. He also leads the SACIDS Africa Centre of Excellence for Infectious Diseases of Humans and Animals in East and Southern Africa (SACIDS-ACE), an initiative of the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania and the World Bank. He currently serves as a member of the Tanzania National Laboratory Sub-Committee and Vice-Chair of the Panel for the State of Laboratory Biosafety and Biosecurity in the SADC Region of the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf).
Dr. Matilu Mwau, Director, Center for Infectious and Parasitic Diseases Control Research
Matilu Mwau is an infectious diseases researcher at the Kenya Medical Research Institute and a Visiting Professor, Nagasaki University. He is currently the Director, Center for Infectious and Parasitic Diseases Control Research (KEMRI). He was the Executive Director, Consortium for National Health Research (CNHR), from 2014-2016. Between 2013 and 2014, he was Associate Professor in Medical Microbiology, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology. He holds a degree in Medicine and Surgery from the University of Nairobi, a Master’s degree in Tropical Medicine from Nagasaki University and a Doctorate Degree in Clinical Medicine (Immunology) from Oxford University. His infectious diseases research revolves around HIV, malaria, human papillomavirus, leishmania, hepatitis, and arthropod-borne viruses, and he has published extensively in these areas.