Nothando Ngwenya
Professor Nothando Ngwenya is a faculty member at AHRI with honorary roles at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, University of Oxford, and University College London.
With a background in computer science, she began her career exploring how digital tools can support people receiving palliative and end-of-life care and later worked in oncology research. In 2016, she returned to HIV research in South Africa, where she also led the development of adolescent-focused studies at AHRI, supported by ViiV Healthcare’s Positive Action for Adolescents programme.
Nothando is passionate about improving the health and wellbeing of adolescents and young adults living in adversity. Her work focuses on developing sustainable, empowering interventions that build resilience and support self-management.
She is actively involved in the leadership of AHRI’s education and training programme and is deeply committed to nurturing the next generation of African scientists to provide African led solutions to unique challenges faced by our continent. By providing mentorship and creating opportunities for other researchers, especially those from previously disadvantaged backgrounds, Nothando aims to foster a culture of innovation and excellence in the scientific community. Her approach to fostering a positive and inclusive research culture is grounded in the African philosophy of uBuntu “I am because we are” and the recognition that authentic leadership requires vulnerability by creating space for openness, honesty, and human connection.
Get in touch with Nothando via nothando.ngwenya@ahri.org.
Click here for a full list of publications.
Ngwenya Group
Nothando Ngwenya is a behavioural and mental health researcher whose work focuses on how people navigate long-term health conditions in complex and often challenging social and cultural settings. Her research explores the ways in which adversity and ill health shape behaviour, and how these experiences impact resilience, wellbeing, and self-management especially among adolescents and young adults.
Nothando is particularly interested in how a diagnosis of an incurable condition, such as HIV, influences mental health and decision-making. Her work brings together perspectives from behavioural science, psychology, and social-ecological systems thinking to better understand the lived experiences of young people managing chronic health conditions. Central to her research is the conceptualisation of resilience, not merely as recovery from adversity, but as the ongoing capacity to adapt, develop, and thrive despite significant challenges.
Nothando’s research pays particular attention to the emotional lives of adolescents in collectivist communities, with a growing focus on emotional literacy and emotional regulation as foundational components of mental wellbeing. She is interested in how emotional competencies are shaped by cultural norms and how these influence young people’s abilities to manage distress, communicate emotional needs, and engage with care systems. Her work explores how cultural narratives and local conceptualisations of illness and wellbeing shape self-understanding, help-seeking behaviours, and adherence to long-term treatment.
By applying complexity-informed and culturally grounded public health approaches, Nothando aims to inform the development of sustainable, context-sensitive interventions that promote holistic outcomes in the lives of adolescents. Her work frequently engages with lay peer counsellors and community-based models of care to foster resilience and psychosocial support within resource-constrained settings.
Meet the Team
Nduku Wambua
Postdoctoral fellow
Dr Nduku Wambua has a background in clinical psychology and for the past eight years she has focused on mental health research in Kenya. Her PhD from the University of KwaZulu-Natal explored the construct of resilience in first episode psychosis. At AHRI Nduku is working on solutions that bridge the treatment gap, with a particular interest in the application of culturally and contextually relevant psychological interventions for the management of child and adolescent mental health problems.
Aggrey Mokaya
Postdoctoral fellow
Dr Aggrey Mokaya is a postdoctoral fellow at AHRI within the Sub-Saharan Network for TB/HIV Research Exellence (SANTHE) programme. He holds a BSc in environmental health and both a Master’s and PhD in public health. His research focus is on how participatory engagement fosters empowerment, particularly examining how adolescents in rural KwaZulu-Natal experience and define empowerment as they engage with research over time. Through his work, he seeks to deepen the understanding of how engagement with research can enhance the empowerment of young people, particularly in challenging environments.
Tamlyn Seunanden
PhD student
Tamlyn is a PhD student in the social science team at AHRI. She holds a masters in research psychology from the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Tamlyn has conducted research in the clinical trial and public health systems environments in South Africa. She has held project management roles in evaluation type studies on HIV, chronic diseases and health systems in Southern Africa. She is passionate about improving the lives of adolescents. She has led and facilitated programmes that aim to develop the life skills and career goals of adolescents and young adults. Tamlyn’s current research focus is to explore the perceptions and experiences on antiretroviral therapies in adolescents participating in the BREATHER Plus trial in South Africa.
Thandeka Smith
PhD student
Thandeka is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of KwaZulu-Natal where she also obtained her master's in medical science (Research) in 2022 exploring how young people living with HIV develop their identity and agency. Her current research intricately explores the intersections of mental health, HIV, and trauma in socially adverse settings in KwaZulu-Natal.
Miliswa Magongo
PhD student
Miliswa is a SHARP PhD Fellow. She has extensive experience in project management, communications, and stakeholder engagement within the field of HIV and reproductive health. She holds a masters in social science from the University of KwaZulu-Natal and a postgraduate diploma in management from the University of Witwatersrand.
Nondumiso Dlamini
Masters student & research assistant
Nondumiso's masters research at AHRI focuses on empowering adolescents living with HIV and mental health issues through the establishment of a lived experience group. Her use of engagement theory and practice aims to tackle mental health and HIV stigma in rural KwaZulu-Natal. She holds a BA honours degree in social work from UNISA.
Syethemba Nkosi
Research intern
Syethemba holds an honours in criminology and forensic studies from UKZN. His research at AHRI focuses on understanding the perceived impact of mental health on medication non-adherence for adolescents living with HIV in resource limited settings, using a health behaviour model (COM-B) to conceptualise the factors that explain individual health behaviours.
Selected Recent Publications
Ngwenya N, Iwuji C, Petersen N, Myeni N, Nxumalo S, Ngema U, Seeley J. Investigation of Post-Trial Access Views among Study Participants and Stakeholders Using Photovoice and Semistructured Interviews. Journal of Medical Ethics, June 2021.
Ngwenya N, Barnett T, Groenewald C, Seeley J. Complex Trauma and Its Relation to Hope and Hopelessness among Young People in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Vulnerable Children and Youth Studies, vol. 16, no. 2, Apr. 2021, pp. 166–77.
Bernays S, Lanyon C, Dlamini V, Ngwenya N, Seeley J. . Being Young and on the Move in South Africa: How ‘Waithood’ Exacerbates HIV Risks and Disrupts the Success of Current HIV Prevention Interventions. Vulnerable Children and Youth Studies, vol. 15, no. 4, Oct. 2020, pp. 368–78.
Ngwenya N, Nkosi B, Mchunu LS, Ferguson J, Seeley J, Doyle AM. Behavioural and Socio-Ecological Factors That Influence Access and Utilisation of Health Services by Young People Living in Rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa: Implications for Intervention. PLOS ONE, edited by Rachel A. Annunziato, vol. 15, no. 4, Apr. 2020.
Desmond C, Seeley J, Groenewald C, Ngwenya N, Rich K, Barnett T. Interpreting Social Determinants: Emergent Properties and Adolescent Risk Behaviour. PLOS ONE, edited by G.J. Melendez-Torres, vol. 14, no. 12, Dec. 2019.