Dr. Gracian Chimwaza is the new Chair of Research4Life Executive Council
We are pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Gracian Chimwaza as Chair of the Research4Life Executive Council. He succeeds Ylann Schemm, Director of the Elsevier Foundation and VP of Corporate Responsibility at Elsevier, who held this role from June 2020 to July 2022. Lise McLeod (WIPO) has been elected Vice-Chair of the Research4Life Executive Council.
Gracian is also Executive Director at Information Training & Outreach Centre for Africa (ITOCA), a Research4Life partner based in South Africa working to promote and build capacity on the use of electronic resources and digital tools in Africa. His involvement with the partnership spans two decades, since the launch of Research4Life. During this time, his primary focus has been to spearhead Research4Life outreach, training and user community engagement in Africa via capacity development. His work at ITOCA has intersected with these efforts; he has leveraged his position at ITOCA to develop programs that have contributed to the building of user communities and the training of Research4Life champions in Africa.
Through ITOCA and in collaboration with Mann Library/Cornell University, Gracian has raised significant grants, benefited by thousands of academic and research in Sub Saharan Africa, for training programs to strengthen access to research and build research skills via the TEEAL program and Research4Life.
As we focus on our vision for 2030 and we pivot to a new strategy which will support our community of users as both consumers and producers of research, Gracian’s appointment starts at an exciting and time for Research4Life.
Reflecting on his appointment Gracian says:
The main goal of our new strategic plan is to significantly increase participation of researchers from lower income countries in the global research community. This will be achieved through deliberate targeted efforts that promote the active participation of the user community in all aspects of Research4Life and I will continue to champion this drive.
Congratulations and welcome, Gracian!
