The medical education and research sector in Zimbabwe will never be the same without contribution from renowned medical education and research trainer and mentor, Professor James Gita Hakim. His demise on Tuesday the 26th of January due to COVID-19 complications shocked many people in the country, the region, and other parts of the world. His colleagues, workmates, support staff, mentees, trainees and students are still struggling to cope with the loss. The esteemed and revered Professor left a big void which will be difficult to fill at the University of Zimbabwe Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences. He was a prolific grant writer, author, fundraiser, mentor, teacher, friend, and a father figure full of demeanour, to many people. He is arguably one of the finest research leaders to ever emerge in Zimbabwe with expertise and exceptional abilities spanning many areas including research administration and capacity building. He also paid attention to detail and had a challenging mentality to the extent that he would discuss and argue at par with experts in areas such as finance, grants administration, and monitoring and evaluation. In terms of personality, he believed in giving a second chance to people who offended him and was slow to anger.
Professor James Hakim will be remembered for initiating medical education and research capacity building at the University of Zimbabwe Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences. From 2010 to 2015 he spearheaded the implementation of the Medical Education Partnership Initiative (MEPI) whose goal was to build capacity to meet Zimbabwean healthcare training and research needs through: strengthening medical education for undergraduate and postgraduate students, enhancing faculty training and support, and investing in novel educational models and technologies. From 2016 to 2020 he spearheaded the implementation of the Promoting Education, Research and Faculty Enhanced Career Training (PERFECT) programme which was aimed at training a critical mass of 30 junior researchers to become competent and independent medical researchers. These were trained and mentored to carry out rigorous research in areas such as HIV and AIDS, Cardiovascular Diseases, Mental Health, Women’s Health and Dental and Craniofacial disorders. At the time of his death, he was leading in the implementation of the Health Education Partnership Initiative (HEPI) grant through the Partnership in Education Training and Research Advancement (PETRA). PETRA is aimed at training faculty and postgraduate students in dissemination and implementation science research (DIS) and inter-professional education (IPE) at Africa University, Midlands State University, National University of Science and Technology and the University of Zimbabwe, supported by two US partner universities (University of Colorado Denver and Stanford University). The programmes are funded by PEPFAR and the US National Institutes of Health. Through the MEPI initiative, he became a founding member of the African Forum for Research and Education in Health (AFREhealth). This is an interdisciplinary health professional grouping that seeks to work with Ministries of Health, training institutions and other stakeholders to improve the quality of health care in Africa through research, education and capacity building.
He was also involved in other capacity building initiatives funded by US and UK funders. He was a Principal Director in the Training for Research Excellence and Mentorship in Tuberculosis (TRENT) Programme. This is a consortium of the University of Zimbabwe, the Biomedical Research Training Institute (BRTI), and the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) which provides multi-disciplinary training to junior scientists to strengthen research capacity and promote high quality, innovative, and locally relevant HIV/TB, COVID-19 and related research.
Professor Hakim also participated in the Wellcome Trust funded programme, African Mental Health Research Initiative (AMARI) as well as the Tackling Infections to Benefit Africa (TIBA) programme funded by the National Institute for Health Research. He was also a co-investigator in the NIH funded TENDAI trial of depression treatment in PLHIV, a partnership with King’s College London.
Professor Hakim was passionate also in clinical research and trials. He was instrumental in leading HIV research programmes under the Clinical Trials Research Centre and the University of Zimbabwe Clinical Research Programme. Throughout his over two decades of research career, Professor Hakim was honoured through several awards, notably the University College London honorary PhD Medicine in 2016 and Ward Spirit Award in 2019.
The much-revered Professor trained in medicine at Makerere University (Uganda) and specialised in internal medicine in SA, UK, Germany, and Australia. His qualifications include MBChB, MMed, MMedSci, and FRCP.
Professor James Hakim will be greatly missed by the PETRA team, the university, and the research fraternity at large. We pass our heartfelt condolences to his wife and kids and the rest of the family.
Gone but always remembered.