Dr Sikhulile Moyo – Zimbabwean brains behind discovery of Covid-19 Omicron variant

Dr Sikhulile Moyo

By Tapfuma Machakaire   3/1/2023

Zimbabweans who are now spread across the globe continue to register their presence in almost all facets of inventions and ground breaking discoveries amid unfolding technological advances.

They have not been found wanting either, on research in the latest pandemic, Covid-19 which claimed the lives of millions around the World. The first official cases of what was to be referred to as the Covid-19 virus were recorded in December, 2019 in Wuhan, China. The novel virus rapidly spread to all corners of the globe and in the process evolving, resulting in symptoms and disease outcomes changing.

The evolution process led to increased challenges for the World Health Organisation (WHO) and governments as they battled to minimise the damage that the pandemic posed on the human race.  WHO reported that by September 29, 2020, the virus had claimed the lives of 1 million people.

In November 2021, Dr Sikhulile Moyo a Zimbabwean born academic and researcher now based at Harvard AIDS Institute in Botswana was the first, with his team, to sequence the Covid-19 variant B.1.1.529 which was then named Omicron. Dr Moyo’s work was informed by the fact that when a virus is circulating widely and causing numerous infections, the likelihood of the virus mutating increases.

In August 2022 the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) published an article in which it stated that the highly transmissible Omicron variant of COVID-19 had been driving an unprecedented surge of infections globally.

Expert information indicated that the variant had been spreading faster than any previous variant and that the overall risk related to the variant remained very high. Of major concern was that the variant was more contagious than previous variants.

It was also the most transmissible variant for all age groups which meant an increase in the number of children to be affected was to be expected. These are some of the findings which came from results of the research by the Zimbabwean researcher and his team.

Dr Moyo moved to Botswana in 1996 after completing his undergraduate degree at the University of Zimbabwe. He started working at the Botswana Harvard Partnership as a Lab Assistant in 2003 and was promoted to Laboratory Coordinator and rose to his current position as Lab Manager.

He is responsible for laboratory support of clinical trials, including supervision of an ISO accredited laboratory. He oversees the design and implementation of laboratory components of clinical trials, observational studies, and surveillance studies.

Before the advent of the Covid-19 pandemic Dr Moyo had made a number of significant contributions in the prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission studies. His studies also informed birth outcomes, the health of HIV-exposed uninfected infants, and surveillance of HIV incidence and monitoring of HIV mutations associated with drug resistance.

On 27 December, 2022, President Emmerson Mnangagwa presented USD50 000 to Dr Moyo as a token of appreciation in recognition of his contribution to saving humanity.

The money was presented on behalf of the President by Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development Minister, Amon Murwira, at Dr Moyo’s rural home in Donkwe-Donkwe near Kezi, Matabeleland South province.

The Minister told Dr Moyo that the President was looking into the most appropriate excellence award for him.

“It’s not only in Zimbabwe, not only southern Africa but the globe. His Excellency, the President is elated with the achievement of this son of the soil,” said the Minister.

Local MP who is also Primary and Secondary Education Deputy Minister, Edgar Moyo, said Dr Moyo’s achievement was an inspiration to the country’s youth.

In response, Dr Moyo said he was humbled by the recognition and honour bestowed on him by the Government. “It’s giving me energy to run and run with others. It is a relay, you run and there are others that need to take the baton and identify others who can make a difference.”

Other awards that Dr Moyo has received include the Festus Mogae Award of HIV research, the Martin Luther King Jr Humanitarian Award, the German, Africa Award and Time 100 Most Influential People in the World award.

Dr Moyo holds Master’s degrees in Applied Microbiology and Public Health and a PhD in Medical Virology from Stellenbosch University, South Africa. For his thesis, Evolutionary trends and dynamics of HIV-1C in Botswana, he used new molecular and serological methods to identify and characterize early founder viruses.

Dr Moyo is a member of the AIDS Clinical Trials Group (ACTG)/International Maternal Paediatric Adolescent AIDS Clinical Trials (IMPAACT) laboratory technologist committee.

He has more than 65 publications on topics that include phytogenic analysis, molecular phylogenetic, Evolutionary Bioinformatics and viral evolution. He is also knowledgeable about pathology, Molecular virology and Bio statistics.

Dr Moyo is a gospel artiste who has produced two albums. He is married and has two sons and a daughter. Back home the good doctor is sponsoring the education of several children in his rural home.