Zara completed a PhD in Human Geography from Newcastle University in 2024. Prior to joining LSTM, Zara spent several years as a medical writer, supporting market access activities in multiple markets and in several disease areas. Zara has a BSc degree in Medical Science from the University of Leeds, an MMedSci in Human Nutrition from the University of Sheffield, and an MA in Human Geography Research from Newcastle University.
Zara’s current research activities are centred on the Wellcome Trust’s International Funding for Research Culture (IFRC) grant at LSTM. Zara supports on the assessment of research management capacities in partner institutions and identifies measures to strengthen research management capacity. Zara also leads on the monitoring, evaluation and learning activities for the LSTM IFRC programme.