Dr. Vimbai N.C Samukange

Dr Vimbai Samukange is the Director of the Biotechnology Research Institute with effect from July 2023. She has a broad-based background in the field of Biology. She received a B Sc degree in Food Science and Technology from the University of Zimbabwe in 2007, and an M Sc and Doctorate degrees in Agricultural Science obtained from Kyoto University, Japan in 2012 and 2015, respectively. In her postgraduate studies, she majored in Enzyme Chemistry with special focus on the role of Matrilysin (MMP-7) in cancer progression. From 2015 – 2018, she was a Postdoctoral researcher at Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST), Japan where she carried out research on the role of the nmr-1 gene in memory and learning in C. elegans. From 2019 to 08/2020, she worked as a Research Assistant at the Institute of Biochemistry in Romania, where she carried out research on ageing in C. elegans. She has been affiliated with the National Biotechnology Authority and The Biotech Institute. Dr Samukange taught the following modules at the University of Zimbabwe: Principles of Environmental Health, Cell Biology and Food Hygiene, and Disease Prevention and Control. Her areas of interest include: enzymology, ageing, nematology (C. elegans), generation of genetically better crops, drug discovery, development of Do-It-Yourself test kits for cancer, utilization of algae to produce commercially viable products and the identification of microorganisms for commercial applications. She is a member of the African Academy of Sciences.