Dr Katharina Kranzer
Clinical Professor of Infectious Disease Epidemiology
United Kingdom
I am Professor of Infectious Disease Epidemiology in the Department of Clinical Research at LSHTM, and Senior Scientist in the Division of Infectious Diseases & Tropical Medicine at LMU Klinikum, Munich. Based in Harare, Zimbabwe, I direct the Health Research Unit Zimbabwe (THRU-Zim) at the Biomedical Research and Training Institute (BRTI).
My work focuses on tuberculosis (TB), antimicrobial resistance, and strengthening health and laboratory systems in high-burden settings. I trained in internal medicine and medical microbiology in the UK and Germany, completing a Wellcome Trust-funded PhD (2008–2011) on active TB case finding and antiretroviral therapy to reduce TB burden in high-HIV-prevalence settings. From 2015 to 2018, I directed Germany’s National and WHO Supranational TB Reference Laboratory at the Research Centre Borstel.
I currently hold or have held leadership roles on a wide portfolio of internationally funded research, including as Principal Investigator on the GACD-funded RESTORE trial and the Novo Nordisk Foundation-funded study on TB and cardiovascular disease, and as Co-Investigator on the Wellcome-funded RadioTB trial and the Gates Foundation-funded STI and adverse pregnancy outcomes study. I co-lead the EDCTP-funded ERASE-TB study evaluating novel diagnostics for early TB detection and targeted preventive treatment, and serve as Senior Scientist on the EDCTP-funded CAP-TB trial assessing the impact of near-patient diagnostics on treatment initiation. My antimicrobial resistance work includes studies in Harare evaluating the impact of the 2019 typhoid conjugate vaccine campaign on antibiotic prescribing.
I contribute to global policy as a member of multiple WHO guideline development groups on TB screening, diagnostics, and testing tools, and sit on several international scientific advisory boards. I am deeply committed to research capacity strengthening: I co-direct the Wellcome-funded CREATE PhD programme and lead the EDCTP-funded Southern African Research Capacity Network (SOFAR), supporting emerging researchers across Zimbabwe, Zambia and Mozambique.
I have authored over 225 peer-reviewed publications (h-index 49) and have received a number of awards for my research, including the 2025 EDCTP Scientific Leadership Prize for a European Woman, the 2023 EDCTP Outstanding Research Team Prize, and the 2020 Chalmers Medal from the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene.
Affiliations
Centres
Teaching
I have a longstanding and active commitment to teaching, training, and research capacity strengthening. I previously served as module organiser and lecturer for the HIV module at LSHTM in London and have contributed as a tutor to the distance learning MSc Epidemiology for over a decade. I also supervise MSc student projects and (co-)supervise several PhD and DrPH students, the majority of whom are based in Zimbabwe and engaged in field-based research.
I served as a faculty member on the NIH Fogarty Training for Research Excellence and Mentorship in Tuberculosis (TRENT) programme in Zimbabwe. I codirect the CREATE PhD programme and co-lead, together with Professor Helen Ayles, the CREATE stream supporting matched African fellows. I also direct the EDCTP-funded SOFAR Fellowship Programme which is training four MSc students, six PhD fellows, and five postdoctoral researchers across Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Mozambique.
My work is underpinned by a strong commitment to capacity building in public health and laboratory systems. During my tenure as Director of the WHO Supranational Tuberculosis Reference Laboratory, I established collaborative partnerships with national and regional laboratories in Moldova, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Sierra Leone, Pakistan, and Ghana, delivering in-country training on molecular diagnostics, laboratory information systems, and quality management, alongside supervisory and technical support visits.
Research
My research interests centre on improving the diagnosis, treatment, and care pathways for drug-susceptible and drug-resistant tuberculosis. I have a particular focus on rapid diagnostics and laboratory strengthening in high-burden settings. I am increasingly interested in the longer-term consequences of TB, including its links to multimorbidity, mental health, and cardiovascular disease. I am also interested in the role of integrated, community-based models of care - including those that incorporate social protection - in improving the cascade of care for infectious and non-infectious diseases.
My research, and that of my students, has been recognised with several awards. Two of my primary-supervised PhD students have received the LSHTM Woodruff Medal (Collins Timire, 2024; Ioana Olaru, 2023), and Dr Claire Calderwood, for whom I was primary supervisor, received the 2025 Stephen Lawn TB-HIV Research Leadership Prize. I was awarded the Woodruff Medal myself in 2012 and the Union Scientific Prize in 2019. My work has also directly informed WHO policy through my membership of guideline development groups on TB screening, diagnostics, and TB skin tests.
Main research projects
• RESTORE (UKRI/MRC, 2026–2030, PI) — rehabilitation with embedded mental health and diabetes services for people with multimorbid TB
• TB and cardiovascular disease (Novo Nordisk Foundation, 2025–2028, PI)
• RadioTB (Wellcome Trust, 2025–2030, Co-I) — management of radiographically apparent, bacteriologically negative TB
• ERASE-TB (EDCTP, 2020–2025, Co-PI) — early risk assessment in TB contacts using novel diagnostic tests
• CAP-TB (EDCTP, 2019–2024, Senior Scientist) — improving access to TB diagnosis and treatment
• SOFAR (EDCTP, 2024–2028, PI) — Southern Africa Research Capacity Network
• CREATE (Wellcome Trust, 2021–2028, Co-director) — PhD training programme in global health research across Africa
Research degree supervision
I am currently primary supervisor to three doctoral students at LSHTM and LMU, and sit on the supervisory teams of several others at LSHTM and the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. I have primary- or co-supervised twelve completed PhD students since 2018 and have supervised or examined MSc and MPhil students (over 30 to date). I also act as mentor or sponsor on several independent fellowships, including Wellcome Early Career and Clinical PhD Fellowships and a Royal Society of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene Early Career Grant.
Selected Publications
