Vanessa Moonga

Vanessa Moonga is a Mastercard Foundation Scholar and a Zambian early career health economist. She is an alumna of the University of Lusaka, where she obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Economics in 2023. She is pursuing an MSc in Modelling for Global Health at the University of Oxford and is a member of Reuben College.

She is a two-time published researcher in the Global Public Health journal, PLOS, and a 2025 contributor at the World Conference on Lung Health through an economic evaluation abstract from a clinical trial study on tuberculosis conducted by Zambart in Zambia in 2024, which was presented and published in the conference books.

Vanessa has worked with Zambian institutions including the National Health Research Authority, where she contributed to the Data to Policy knowledge translation programme. She has also worked on multiple research projects with the University of Zambia in areas such as measles vaccination and health systems strengthening in low- and middle-income countries in the context of climate change, in support of maternal and child health. At the University of Zambia, she also volunteered in the School of Public Health as a health economics tutor and research co-supervisor to a student conducting a cost analysis.

Through the MSc in Modelling for Global Health, Vanessa seeks to understand the transmission dynamics of infectious diseases and the intervention strategies that can be applied in models to evaluate their impact. She aims to develop a skill set that combines mathematical modelling and health technology assessment, linking transmission mechanisms to the economic costs of epidemics and the cost-effectiveness of health interventions. Motivated by the recurring cholera outbreaks in Zambia and other African countries, she plans to contribute modelling solutions that can help shape global health policy.

Outside her career, Vanessa is a photographer, swimmer, and avid Formula One fan.