By Staff Reporter
Zimbabwe is set to host a high-profile three-day workshop next week focused on the intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) and health, with the aim of building local capacity and sparking innovation to address pressing healthcare challenges.
Running from Tuesday, 3 June to Thursday, 5 June 2025, the “Artificial Intelligence for Health in Zimbabwe: Building Capacity, Inspiring Innovation” event will take place at the University of Zimbabwe’s Centre for Postgraduate Studies at the Innovation Hub. The workshop will bring together leading experts in health, AI, and data science from across Africa and the UK, along with early career Zimbabwean researchers.
The event is expected to serve as a platform for meaningful knowledge exchange and collaboration between international and local experts.
We are so excited to be bringing together great minds from Zimbabwe and beyond to explore how AI can help us tackle the country—and the world’s—most pressing health needs,” said Dr. Felicity Fitzgerald, Organising Lead from Imperial College London.
“This workshop comes at a time where leveraging AI can help address some of the health challenges grounded in our different contexts and realities,” added Professor Francis Machingura, Director of the Centre for Postgraduate Studies at the University of Zimbabwe.
Day 1: Public Lectures and Keynote Presentations
The first day of the workshop will feature a series of keynote lectures, open to an audience of 150 attendees including students, academic staff, community organisations, and NGOs. High-profile speakers include:
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Professor Payam Barnaghi (Imperial College London): “How Machine Learning Can Improve Child Healthcare?”
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Mr. Darlington Akogo (Ghana): “Moremi AI – Towards AGI for Health and Biology”
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Dr. Trust Zaranyika (University of Zimbabwe): “AI in Medical Education”
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Dr. Franck Verzefé (Cameroon): “AI in Africa: Macroeconomics, Microeconomics, and a Common Strategy”
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Engineer Emmanuel Rashayi (University of Zimbabwe) & Dr. Bessie Marira (University of Cape Town): “From Clinics to Code: How AI Can Bridge Rural Healthcare Gaps in Zimbabwe”
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Dr. Precious Lunga (Zimbabwe & UK): “How AI Can Drive Discovery Science”
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Professor Ceire Costelloe (UK): “Harnessing the Power of Real-World Healthcare Data to Drive Innovation in Data Science”
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Professor Tawanda Mushiri (Zimbabwe): “The Use of Large Language Models (LLMs) in the Health Sector in Zimbabwe”
Days 2 and 3: Incubator for Zimbabwean Early Career Researchers
The second and third days will shift to an intensive idea incubator designed for 25 early career researchers from Zimbabwe. Participants will work closely with five international faculty members to explore technical, ethical, and strategic dimensions of AI in health. The goal is to develop innovative research proposals that could attract future grant funding.
