Lufina Tsirizani Galileya

PhD StudentĀ 

Lufina is a PhD student in pharmacometrics.

Lufina has been enrolled as a PhD student since October 2019 and is working on the application of nonlinear mixed-effects models to describe pharmacokinetics (PK) and pharmacodynamics (PD) of antimalarial and antituberculotic and drugs in children. She holds a Bachelor of Pharmacy(Hons.) and a MSc Epidemiology with specialisation in Epidemiology and Biostatistics from the University of Malawi, College of Medicine. Her interest in drug development led Lufina to study pharmacy, which then sparked her strong interest in PK and PD. Specifically, Lufina is interested in the application of PK and PD in drug dose optimization and drug development for vulnerable populations. Before taking up the PhD position Lufina was a research pharmacist on phase III clinical trials in Malawi.

Research projects

Lufina is part of the research team on the following studies:

  • Dihydroartemisinin-Piperaquine or Sulphadoxine-Pyrimethamine for the
  • Chemoprevention of Malaria in Children with Sickle Cell Anaemia in eastern and southern Africa: a double-blind placebo controlled randomised trial (the CHEMCHA trial)
  • SHINE study: Shorter treatment for minimal TB in children. ISRCTN63579542

Research interests

Application of pharmacometric modelling and simulation tools in drug development and drug dose optimization for children and other vulnerable populations.

Software: NONMEM, Monolix, R, STATA.