Zaynab Essack, PhD, is a research psychologist and chief research specialist who uses social science and humanities approaches to explore public health, research ethics, and human rights questions in LMICs. Her work focuses on improving access to HIV prevention options and minimizing health disparities related to sexual and reproductive health (SRH), violence, mental health, and substance abuse amongst vulnerable populations, particularly adolescents, women, and sexual minorities.
Zaynab has an NRF C rating and has co-authored over 60 publications. Zaynab has a keen interest in utilizing alternative arts-based and community-based methodologies for socio-behavioural research. She is a member of the South African National AIDS Council's (SANAC) Prevention Task Team, and the Biomedical Research Ethics Committee at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, and co-leads the South African Research Ethics Training Initiative (SARETI), a masterâ??s degree in Health Research Ethics.
