John Changalucha

John Changalucha is a Senior Research Scientist in the Mwanza Intervention Trials Unit (MITU). John was the Director of the National Institute for Medical Research in Mwanza for 19 years until when he stepped down in June 2018. During this period, John has mentored many young researchers both within the institute and outside.

John has a background in medical microbiology and has over 20 years of research experience. His research initially focused on trials to evaluate the effect of treatment of other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) on HIV transmission in the general population and among high risk women, development of microbicides for prevention of HIV among high risk women, and the effect of sexual and reproductive health educational programme on HIV, other STIs and unwanted pregnancies among young girls.

He also carried out research on point of care rapid diagnostic tests for STIs. More recently, John has been involved in research on HPV epidemiology and was involved in the first trial on the immunogenicity and safety of HPV vaccines in sub-Saharan Africa and on a trial in Mwanza to investigate HPV vaccine delivery strategies among school girls. John is currently involved in the DoRIS clinical trial that is evaluating the immunogenicity of single-dose HPV vaccines in Tanzanian girls.