Dr Zandile Mchiza is a Y-rated National Research Foundation scientist and a senior research specialist in the Population Health, Health System and Innovation (PHHSI) programme. She holds a BSc in Nutrition and Dietetics at the University of the Western Cape (UWC), and obtained a PhD in Med Nutrition and Dietetics from the University of Cape Town (UCT) in South Africa in June 2009.
Before joining the HSRC, she was a senior specialist scientist at the Non-Communicable Disease Research Unit (NCDRU) at the Medical Research Council (MRC, Cape Town). She has also worked at the MRC/UCT's Exercise Science and Sports Medicine (ESSM) Unit, UWC's School of Public Health (SoPH) and UCT's Human Nutrition and Dietetics Unit in South Africa.
Her areas of research interest include: obesity and non-communicable diseases, with special emphasis on nutrition and food security.