Dr. Tinashe Chikowore

Tinashe Chikowore is an Investigator at the Brigham Women’s Hospital and Instructor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. His research group focuses on the application of omics, gene-lifestyle interactions, and machine learning to understand of the impact of nutrition on complex traits such as obesity and diabetes. He obtained a prestigious Wellcome Trust International training fellowship, to characterise gene-lifestyle interactions in African populations. He has also published several papers on the topic of polygenic risk scores and their use in predicting NCD risk in African populations. Chikowore is a passionate advocate for increasing diversity in genomic research and has served as guest Editor for Frontiers in Genetics and Annals of Human Genetics on issues that have showcased genomics from underrepresented populations. He is also a strong advocate for increasing diversity in genomic research and is working to ensure that African scientists have a voice in this field. He is the incoming Chair of the H3Africa CVD working group, which is a pan-African consortium that is working to improve the understanding of NCDs in African populations.
Here are some of Chikowore's notable achievements:

• Won the 2021 American Society of Human Genetics Charles Epstein Award of Excellence in Human Genetics.
• Invited as a sessional speaker at the American Heart Association to speak about polygenic risk scores and enhancing diversity in H3Africa.
• Partnered with Prof Segun Fatumo to start a research group mentoring African scientists in genomics.
• Published several papers in top academic journals, including Nature Medicine, EBioMedicine, and Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice.
• Invited as a reviewer for the American Diabetes Association Early Career Grants.
• Invited by Novo-Nordisk and European Study for Diabetes as an expert panellist for the symposium to advance the translation of Precision Medicine in Developing Countries.
• Recipient of the Wellcome Trust International Training fellowships.