Moffat Nyirenda is a diabetologist/endocrinologist. He was among the first graduates of the University of Malawi College of Medicine, with hybrid training between the University of London and the University of Malawi. He later completed advanced clinical and research training in the UK, supported by a prestigious MRC Clinician Scientist Fellowship. In 2010, he returned to Malawi to become the first Professor of Research at the University of Malawi College of Medicine and Associate Director of the Malawi-Liverpool-Wellcome Programme. He joined LSHTM in 2013 as Professor of Medicine (Global NCDs) and Director of the Malawi Epidemiology and Intervention Research Unit (MEIRU), building a major NCD research platform. In 2017, he moved to Uganda to establish and lead the Non-Communicable Disease Research Theme at the MRC/UVRI and LSHTM Uganda Research Unit, and become Director of the Unit in 2024.
Affiliations
Teaching
Moffat Nyirenda is deeply committed to advancing teaching and research training at LSHTM and beyond. He contributes actively to multiple MSc programmes at LSHTM, including delivering lectures in the flagship Global Health Lecture Series, the MSc Nutrition course, and the Applying Public Health Principles in Developing Countries module. He also shares his expertise with future clinicians through teaching on the Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.
In addition to his teaching roles, he serves as co-Director of the CREATE Programme, a Wellcome-funded doctoral training initiative that is nurturing the next generation of global health leaders by supporting 50 doctoral students from both the UK and Africa. His commitment to fostering equitable partnerships and building sustainable research capacity is reflected in his active engagement with Makerere University in Uganda, where he contributes to teaching and wider research capacity strengthening.
As Director of the MRC/UVRI & LSHTM Uganda Research Unit, Moffat Nyirenda has overall responsibility for training and capacity building across the Unit, helping to develop the skills of early-career researchers and strengthening local research ecosystems. He currently supervises five PhD students.
Research
Moffat Nyirenda’s research interests lie in mechanistic understanding of the aetiology of NCDs, including investigating the association between early environmental insults and the risk of diabetes and hypertension in adulthood, and using cross-cutting approaches to examine the interactions between infection and NCDs. His work has identified a distinct “lean type 2 diabetes phenotype” which occurs in non-obese individuals in African populations, characterised by impaired insulin production - contrasting sharply with the typical form associated with ageing, obesity and insulin resistance. These findings carry important clinical implications for diagnosis and treatment.
His other area of research lies in designing and evaluating interventions to improve care of chronic long-term conditions in Africa. This has included development of an innovative “one-stop” chronic care model that has integrated diabetes, hypertension and HIV services – which has improved NCD care without compromising HIV outcomes, with significant cost saving.
Selected Publications
