Science, Medicine & Engineering
Landmark
Sikhulile Moyo
His lab was the first in the world to identify the Omicron variant
Landmark is level 2 of 4 in the Zimbabwe Hall of Fame: a first that opened a door, or the pre-eminent figure of their generation in this country. See how the levels work.
Why they are here
In November 2021 his laboratory in Gaborone spotted a SARS-CoV-2 variant nobody had seen. It was Omicron, and the warning went round the world within days.
Sikhulile Moyo is a Zimbabwean virologist and laboratory director of the Botswana–Harvard AIDS Institute Partnership.
In November 2021 he and his laboratory were the first anywhere to identify the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, and raised the alarm. Time named him among its hundred most influential people in 2022.
In November 2021 he and his laboratory were the first anywhere to identify the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, and raised the alarm. Time named him among its hundred most influential people in 2022.
- Wikipedia — Sikhulile Moyo
- VOA Zimbabwe — Zimbabwe-born scientist who helped identify Omicron slams travel bans
- NPR — Whatever happened to the Botswana scientist who identified omicron
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