Zivai is a Zimbabwean research fellow with research experience of over 16 years gained locally, regionally and internationally. She currently manages a group of studies looking at how young adolescents are managing growing up with HIV. More recently he did some work on a ViiV Healthcare funded sub-study for the ODYSSEY trial of dolutegravir (DTG) based antiretroviral therapy vs. standard of care (SOC) in adolescents with HIV infection starting with first line or switching to second line.
During her period of employment at CeSHHAR from 2010 to current, she has worked on a number of studies, initially on a UNICEF funded social science study which was evaluating a multi-component HIV prevention among adolescents through health promoting the school in rural Zimbabwe.
She was responsible for coming up with the study design, conducting and analysing qualitative and quantitative data collection, including repeat in-depth interviews with adolescents as well as carers and healthcare workers. Within CeSHHAR she worked as a Lead Qualitative Researcher and Social Scientist. She has also authored and co-authored in a number of publications in peer-reviewed journals, presented at regional and international conferences.
Prior to joining CeSHHAR, she had worked for Imperial College London affiliated Manicaland HIV/AIDS research project under the Biomedical Research and Training Institute (BRTI) as a Wellcome Trust Research Fellow. She joined BRTI in 2002 and worked as a research assistant, Data quality supervisor.
Zivai has acted as principal and co-investigator and have worked at senior level for internationally based organisations in various programmes, projects, clinical trials, evaluations and reviews; planning and implementation of projects within the HIV/AIDS sector, and possess significant exposure in the carrying out of research programmes aimed at adolescents living with or affected by HIV and AIDS. Particular reference is made to the ongoing barriers related to education, care, support services and risk behaviours; in which she is currently involved in a number of research projects.
She has gained significant exposure in designing and conducting randomized control trials on adolescents and children infected and affected by HIV. Zivai is interested in child and adolescent health with the specific aim of improving mental, physical, social health and wellbeing of young people through excellent and interdisciplinary research focused on broader social and economic living conditions. Her current research focusses on:
- Adolescent mental health and HIV
- Social support and peer network
- Maternal health, Parenting and early childhood development.
- Longitudinal and innovative research methods.