About

Dr. Isabel Madzorera is an Assistant Professor in Food, Nutrition and Population Health at the University of California, Berkeley, within the division of Community Health Sciences. Her research focuses on global nutrition, specifically addressing the determinants of poor maternal and child nutrition outcomes in low- and middle-income country settings (LMICs). She aims to utilize advanced nutrition epidemiologic methods to assess diet quality as a modifiable risk factor for adverse maternal and child health outcomes and to understand the role of food systems and other contributing factors in the triple burden of malnutrition in these contexts. Her work includes evaluating the impact of diet quality during pregnancy on outcomes such as low birth weight, small for gestational age, and preterm births, as well as assessing the effects of COVID-19 on food prices and diets. Prior to her current role, Dr. Madzorera was a Research Associate at Harvard School of Public Health, where she led global health research on food systems and diet quality. She has extensive field-based experience working in sub-Saharan Africa, including Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, and Ethiopia, conducting maternal and child nutrition interventions. Her previous work has involved collaborations with organizations such as Save the Children, United Nations agencies, and the World Bank. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Nutrition from the University of Zimbabwe, an MS in Food Policy and Applied Nutrition from Tufts University, and an ScD in Nutritional Epidemiology from Harvard School of Public Health.

Research topics

• Computer Science
• Medicine
• Sociology
• Geography
• Economics
• Internal medicine
• Biology
• Ecology
• Psychiatry
• Demography
• Environmental health

Selected publications

• Advancing AI and data science for health in Africa: education, collaboration, and applications for global health priorities

  Frontiers in Public Health · 2026-05-11

  articleOpen access

  Background Africa faces a shortage of health data scientists. Despite bearing 25% of the global disease burden, it has only 3% of the world’s healthcare workforce and even less health data science expertise. As artificial intelligence and data science transform global healthcare, from disease surveillance to precision medicine, this capacity gap poses a significant threat to Africa’s ability to address its health challenges and harness its growing young population for health innovation. Methods We describe the WASHA Takwimu program, a multi-institutional capacity-building initiative funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Data Science Initiative for Africa (DSI Africa) consortium. Operating through a hub-and-spoke model anchored by the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, and Heidelberg Institute of Global Health, the project has spoke partners in Ghana, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Uganda. The program delivers training through multiple modalities: master’s degrees, postdoctoral fellowships, short courses, and professional development activities. The curriculum integrates data science methods with applications in global health priority domains, including health systems strengthening and food systems, climate change, and planetary health, using competency-based, application-focused, and digitally enhanced approaches. Results From 2020 to 2024, WASHA Takwimu (Kiswahili for “Ignite Data”) trained postdoctoral fellows, doctoral students, and other early-career researchers and practitioners across five African countries. The program has supported the development of a Master of Health Data Science program at UKZN and contributed to faculty capacity and curriculum development for a similar program at Makerere University. Key achievements include successful faculty exchanges replacing costly international student placements, integration of technological innovations in learning delivery, and strategic partnerships with national research and policy organizations which connect training to policy-relevant applications. Critical lessons have been learned regarding infrastructure constraints, data governance challenges, gender inequality in participation, and the importance of managing student expectations while maintaining rigorous entry requirements. Implications WASHA Takwimu demonstrates that network-based approaches combining graduate training, faculty development, and stakeholder engagement can build sustainable health data science capacity in Africa. The program’s hub-and-spoke model offers a replicable framework balancing centralized coordination with distributed implementation, while the Master’s programs provide adaptable templates for building similar educational offerings at other African institutions. However, consolidating current achievements must precede ambitious expansion. Strategic priorities include strengthening partnerships with national research councils and Ministries of Health, addressing persistent gender disparities, deepening private sector engagement, and progressively developing PhD programs. As Africa’s population approaches 2.5 billion by 2050, investments in health data science capacity will prove essential for addressing continental health priorities and positioning African institutions as global leaders.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Predicting the effects of temperature variability on nutritional status of children under five in Sub-Saharan Africa using machine learning

  Scientific Reports · 2026-02-10 · 3 citations

  articleOpen access

  Abstract Rising temperatures due to climate change pose significant risks to the nutritional status of under-five children, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). This study investigates the influence of temperature increases on nutritional status (wasting, stunting, and underweight) in SSA. Based on Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data for under-five children and global meteorological reanalysis data, we employed multiple supervised machine learning methods to predict the impact of temperature variability on nutritional status indicators, including stunting, underweight, and wasting, while controlling for socioeconomic variables such as household income and maternal education. Different metrics were used to evaluate the forecasting performance. In addition, multivariable logistic regression was employed to test for the causal-effect relationship. A total of 345,837 participants from 22 SSA countries were analyzed using data from 2005 to 2023. Among the algorithms tested, XG Boost achieved the highest accuracy for underweight prediction (Accuracy = 0.7832), Random Forest for stunting (Accuracy = 0.7023), and logistic regression for wasting (Accuracy = 0.6634). For different countries, accuracies ranging from 0.65 to 0.90, with highest in Uganda (decision tree, Accuracy = 0.9042 for stunting) and lowest in Burundi (XG Boost, Accuracy = 0.6426 for wasting). Causal-effect analysis revealed that each 1 °C rise in average temperature increased the odds of stunting by approximately 1% (OR 1.01, 95% CI: 1.00–1.10), underweight by about 3% (OR 1.03, 95% CI: 1.01–1.06), and wasting by around 10% (OR 1.10, 95% CI: 1.08–1.12). Although the incremental increases per degree appear modest, such temperature-related risks may translate into substantial population-level impacts in climate-vulnerable settings. Higher household income and maternal education were associated with improved nutritional outcomes and attenuated the adverse effects of rising temperatures, indicating a protective socioeconomic effect. Supervised machine learning models can effectively leverage complex datasets to predict the impact of temperature variability on nutritional status, reinforcing the importance of integrated policies and climate-smart agricultural practices for safeguarding the health of under-five children in SSA.

  PublisherDOI

• Perceptions and predictors of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among healthcare providers across five countries in sub-Saharan Africa

  PLOS Global Public Health · 2025-02-21 · 4 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  The African continent has some of the world's lowest COVID-19 vaccination rates. While the limited availability of vaccines is a contributing factor, COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among healthcare providers (HCP) is another factor that could adversely affect efforts to control infections on the continent. We sought to understand the extent of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among HCP, and its contributing factors in Africa. We evaluated COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among 1,499 HCP enrolled in a cross-sectional study conducted as a telephone survey in Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Ghana between July to December of 2021. We defined COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among HCP as self-reported responses of definitely not, maybe, unsure, or undecided on whether to get the COVID-19 vaccine, compared to definitely getting the vaccine. We used log-binomial or modified Poisson regression models to evaluate factors influencing vaccine hesitancy among HCP. Approximately 65.6% of the HCP interviewed were nurses and the mean age (±SD) of participants was 35.8 (±9.7) years. At least 67% of the HCP reported being vaccinated. COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy affected 45.7% of the HCP in Burkina Faso, 25.7% in Tanzania, 9.8% in Ethiopia, 9% in Ghana and 8.1% in Nigeria. Among unvaccinated HCP reasons for low vaccine uptake included concern about vaccine effectiveness, side effects, and fear of receiving experimental and unsafe vaccines. HCP reporting that COVID-19 vaccines are very effective (RR: 0.21, 95% CI: 0.08, 0.55), and older HCP (45 or older vs.20-29 years, RR: 0.65, 95% CI: 0.44, 0.95) were less likely to be vaccine-hesitant. Nurses were more likely to be vaccine-hesitant (RR 1.38, 95% CI: 1.01, 1.89) than doctors. Information asymmetry among HCP, beliefs about vaccine effectiveness, and the endorsement of vaccines by public health institutions may be important. Efforts to address hesitancy should consider information and knowledge gaps among different cadres of HCP alongside efforts to increase vaccine supply.

  PublisherDOI

• Diet and Cancers of the Gastrointestinal Tract in Africa: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2025-01-01

  reviewOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• The Double Burden of Malnutrition in South Africa

  2025-01-01

  book-chapterSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Time for a vision exam: diagnosing problems in the pursuit of equitably transformative resilience in food systems

  Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems · 2025-12-08 · 3 citations

  article

  Amid intensifying climate change, biodiversity collapse, political instability, and widening inequality, the urgency to reimagine food systems is greater than ever. This commentary builds on the concept of Equitably Transformative Resilience (ETR), first proposed in the 2025 <em>High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition (HLPE-FSN)</em> report <em>Building Resilient Food Systems</em> (HLPE, 2025). As elaborated in the report, conventional approaches to resilience emphasize “bouncing back,” through privileging risk management and return to its prior state, reinforcing the very structures that generated vulnerability. These framings obscure ecological fragility and entrenched inequities, leaving communities and ecosystems unable to achieve genuine resilience. Drawing on the HLPE report and the wider literature, we use the metaphor of a vision exam to identify six common ways that dominant resilience framings are distorted in relation to food systems: (1) tunnel vision (siloed thinking), (2) bifocalism (separating ecological and social dimensions), (3 and 4) temporal myopias (ignoring historical injustices and short-termism), (5) spatial myopia (overlooking cross-scale dynamics), and (6) overlooking intersectionality. Correcting these distortions illuminates pathways toward ETR.

  PublisherDOI

• Comparative Analysis of Five African Traditional Multipurpose Crops Using a Food Systems Approach

  Food Reviews International · 2025-04-07

  articleOpen access

  Author(s): Munialo, Sussy; Madzorera, Isabel; Lartey, Anna; Noor, Ramadhani Abdallah; Thiam, Aboubacry; Covic, Namukolo; Amos, Laar; Adelheid, Onyango; Baye, Kaleab; Nikiema, Laetitia Ouedraogo; Wafaie, Fawzi; Sibanda, Lindiwe Majele

  PublisherDOI

• Transforming Africa’s food systems: building resilience to deliver healthy diets

  Proceedings of The Nutrition Society · 2024-11-18 · 4 citations

  reviewOpen accessSenior author

  Food systems in Africa are under pressure from climate change, conflicts, health pandemics such as COVID-19 and rising food prices. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted weaknesses in global food systems and indeed Africa's was not spared. Although COVID-19 mortality and morbidity in Africa were relatively low in comparison to other regions, the containment measures employed by countries amplified a rather dire situation. Disruptions were seen in livelihoods, food value chains, increases in food prices and loss of income. These changes affected access to nutritious foods. A resilient food system that can withstand and recover from disruption and shocks will be important for ensuring access to healthy diets for all. This review paper assesses the state of food insecurity and malnutrition situation pre-COVID-19 and the impact of COVID-19 on Africa's food systems and access to healthy diet. To put Africa on a path to accelerated recovery, a resilient and sustainable food system will be crucial. The following recommendations are made: (i) increasing agriculture productivity, with special attention to the foods that contribute to healthy diets - fruits and vegetables, and animal source foods (ii) promoting the production and consumption of nutritious African traditional and indigenous foods (iii) transforming Africa's food systems to be gender-sensitive (iv) investing in well-targeted social protection programmes (v) supporting food environments that protect healthy diets and (vi) employing data and information to monitor food systems transformation.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• The future of public health doctoral education in Africa: transforming higher education institutions to enhance research and practice

  The Lancet Public Health · 2024-05-10 · 8 citations

  articleOpen access

  The African Union and the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a Call to Action in 2022 for Africa's New Public Health Order that underscored the need for increased capacity in the public health workforce. Additional domestic and global investments in public health workforce development are central to achieving the aspirations of Agenda 2063 of the African Union, which aims to build and accelerate the implementation of continental frameworks for equitable, people-centred growth and development. Recognising the crucial role of higher education and research, we assessed the capabilities of public health doctoral training in schools and programmes of public health in Africa across three conceptual components: instructional, institutional, and external. Six inter-related and actionable recommendations were derived to advance doctoral training, research, and practice capacity within and between universities. These can be achieved through equitable partnerships between universities, research centres, and national, regional, and global public health institutions.

  PublisherDOI

• Impact of COVID-19 on food security and diet quality in Chilanga District, Zambia

  Journal of Health Population and Nutrition · 2024-02-15 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access

  INTRODUCTION: Food security and nutrition have been severely impacted during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). We aimed to quantify the impacts of the pandemic on food security and diet diversity within Chilanga District in Zambia and identify target areas for high-impact social protection and safety net programs. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study in Chilanga district immediately after the Omicron variant surge in February 2022. Diet quality and food security were assessed based on a household diet questionnaire and a Minimum Dietary Diversity-Women (MDD-W) score was calculated. A paired t-test was used to determine whether there was a statistically significant change in the MDD-W score and McNemar test was used to investigate the change in food security between the pre- and peri-COVID-19 period. RESULTS: Compared to the pre-COVID-19 period, there were increases in food prices across the board in the peri-COVID-19 period and decreased consumption of key food categories including legumes, dairy and vitamin A rich foods. Despite high rates of food insecurity, only 6.6% of surveyed households received any cash or in-kind assistance from a government agency, non-profit, or other organization in the post-COVID-19 period. CONCLUSION: The COVID-19 pandemic had significant impacts on food security and dietary diversity in Chilanga district. This is particularly relevant in the low-income communities that we surveyed, which had pre-existing challenges with food security. Additional resources must be invested in Chilanga District and similarly affected areas to address this gap in access to food and promote national equity. Trial Registration N/A.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Wafaie Fawzi

  Harvard University

  143 shared

• Till Baernighausen

  Heidelberg University

  81 shared

• Elena C. Hemler

  60 shared

• Dongqing Wang

  George Mason University

  50 shared

• Bruno Lankoandé

  Institut Superieur Des Sciences De La Population

  44 shared

• Kwaku Poku Asante

  Ghana Health Service

  44 shared

• Nega Assefa

  Haramaya University

  42 shared

• Sulemana Watara Abubakari

  Kintampo Health Research Centre

  40 shared