University of Zimbabwe

Evelyn Makanza-Mazike is a Psychiatrist and lecturer in the Department of Mental Health at University of Zimbabwe’s Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences. She holds a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery Degree, and a Masters in Medicine degree in Psychiatry from the University of Zimbabwe. This was after studying Medical Laboratory Sciences, specialising in Immunology at the University of Zimbabwe. She is currently a PhD fellow at the University of Zimbabwe funded by the African Mental Health Research Initiative (AMARI) II.

Her main research interests are in Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry, the intersection between physical illness and mental illness, particularly depression and non-communicable diseases. Her postgraduate thesis was on “Depression in post-stroke patients and their caregivers at selected healthcare centres in Harare, Zimbabwe”.

Evelyn’s doctoral research is focusing on the neuroscience of major depressive disorder. She aims to develop an algorithm of immunopsychiatric markers for the diagnosis and monitoring of major depressive disorder in Zimbabwe. Evelyn’s unique dual training as a laboratory scientist and psychiatrist makes her a very suitable candidate for this exciting work in the field of Psychoneuroimmunology research.

Supervisors

• Prof Exnevia Gomo, University of Zimbabwe

• Prof Dixon Chibanda, University of Zimbabwe

• Dr Luca Sforzini, King’s College London