The University of Liverpool is delighted to share the news of alumnus Professor Macpherson Mallewa’s appointment as the first Vice-Chancellor of Kamuzu University of Health Sciences (KUHeS) in Malawi.
Mac obtained his primary medical degree (MBBS) at the University of Malawi’s College of Medicine, and then underwent general Paediatrics and Paediatric Neurology training (MRCPCH) at Alder Hey in Liverpool. He then joined the University of Liverpool and completed a PhD in Tropical Medicine in 2009. Supervised by Professor Tom Solomon and Professor Malcolm Molyneux, his PhD saw him work on brain infections in Malawi with the support of a Wellcome Trust Training Fellowship in Clinical Tropical Medicine.
On his return to Malawi, Mac became the core paediatrician at Malawi-Liverpool-Wellcome Clinical Research Programme (MLW) and a consultant paediatric neurologist and associate professor in the department of Paediatrics and Child Health at the College of Medicine, University of Malawi – one of the founding institutes of KUHeS. Here he continued to contribute to a number of research programmes including the NIHR-funded Brain Infections Global.
Professor Louise Kenny, Executive Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences said: “On behalf of Mac’s many friends and colleagues at the University of Liverpool, I would like to extend my sincere congratulations on his appointment as the founding Vice-Chancellor of the new Kamuzu University of Health Sciences. We are proud of our long partnership at Malawi-Liverpool-Wellcome (MLW) and look forward to the next exciting chapter working with Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, under Mac’s leadership, to deliver research excellence with global impact.”
Professor Tom Solomon added: “Mac was an outstanding clinical PhD fellow, publishing some really important work on rabies and other viral brain infections in Malawi. It was clear he had a great future ahead of him; I just don’t think we realised quite how great it would be!”