Sikhulile M. Moyo is a Zimbabwean virologist working as the laboratory director of the Botswana–Harvard AIDS Institute Partnership in

Gaborone Gaborone ( , , ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Botswana, largest city of Botswana, with a population of 246,325 based on the 2022 census, about 10% of the total population of Botswana. Its metropolitan area is home to 534, ...

. He is a research associate in immunology and infectious diseases at the

Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health is the public health school at Harvard University, located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. It was named after Hong Kong entrepreneur Chan Tseng-hsi in 2014 following a US$350 ...

. In November 2021, Moyo and his laboratory were the first to identify the

SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant Omicron (B.1.1.529) is a Variants of SARS-CoV-2, variant of SARS-CoV-2 first reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) by the Network for Genomics Surveillance in South Africa on 24 November 2021. It was first detected in Botswana and has ...

. In 2022, Moyo was listed in the

Time 100 ''Time'' 100 is a list of the top 100 most influential people, assembled by the American news magazine ''Time''. First published in 1999 as the result of a debate among American academics, politicians, and journalists, the list is now a highly ...

list.

Early life and education

Moyo was born in Zimbabwe. He completed an undergraduate degree at the

University of Zimbabwe The University of Zimbabwe (UZ) is a public university in Harare, Zimbabwe. It was opened in 1952 as the University College of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, and was initially affiliated with the University of London. It was later renamed the Univers ...

in 1996. He completed a master's degree in applied

microbiology Microbiology () is the branches of science, scientific study of microorganisms, those being of unicellular organism, unicellular (single-celled), multicellular organism, multicellular (consisting of complex cells), or non-cellular life, acellula ...

at the

University of Botswana The University of Botswana (UB) was established in 1982, as the first institution of higher education in Botswana. The university currently has three campuses: one in the capital city Gaborone, one in Francistown, and another in Maun. The Unive ...

in 2000. In 2006, Moyo completed a M.P.H. at the

University of Limpopo (MEDUNSA-campus) Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University (SMU; ) is a medical university in Ga-Rankuwa, Gauteng Province, South Africa. Its current incarnation was formed on 1 January 2015. Previously, it was known as Medical University of South Africa (MEDUNS ...

. His thesis was titled ''Modelling the HIV / AIDS in Botswana: the representativeness of the ANC based estimates of HIV prevalence in Botswana and implications for monitoring the epidemic''. Moyo completed a Ph.D. in

medical virology Medical microbiology, the large subset of microbiology that is applied to medicine, is a branch of medical science concerned with the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of infectious diseases. In addition, this field of science studies various ...

Stellenbosch University Stellenbosch University (SU) (, ) is a public research university situated in Stellenbosch, a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Stellenbosch is the oldest university in South Africa and the oldest extant university in Sub-Sahara ...

in 2016. Tulio de Oliveira was one of his professors. His dissertation was titled ''Evolutionary trends and dynamics of HIV-1C in Botswana''.

Career

Moyo joined the Botswana–Harvard AIDS Institute Partnership in 2003 as a lab assistant. He later became the laboratory coordinator, deputy manager, and then lab manager in 2016. As of November 2021, Moyo is the laboratory director. He is also a research associate in immunology and infectious diseases at the

. In November 2021, Moyo and his laboratory were the first to identify the

. Upon discovery, they alerted the Botswanan Ministry of Health on November 22, 2021. In 2022, Moyo was listed in the

list.

Personal life

Moyo is married and has two sons and a daughter. He is a gospel singer and composer.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moyo, Sikhulile Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) Zimbabwean biologists Virologists 21st-century biologists University of Zimbabwe alumni University of Botswana alumni Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University alumni Stellenbosch University alumni Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health faculty HIV/AIDS researchers