Dr Christina Laurenzi is an Associate Professor at the Institute for Life Course Health Research (ILCHR), Stellenbosch University, and a public health researcher with over a decade of experience working across sub-Saharan Africa. Her research focuses on adolescent and youth health, with particular expertise in adolescent mental health, HIV, adolescent pregnancy and motherhood, violence prevention, and implementation science.

Her work is centred on understanding and addressing the intersecting challenges faced by vulnerable adolescents, particularly those living with HIV, experiencing pregnancy and early motherhood, or exposed to violence. She specialises in community-based, peer-support, and lay health worker interventions, and is committed to producing evidence that informs policy, strengthens programmes, and improves outcomes in real-world settings.

Dr Laurenzi has published more than 70 peer-reviewed articles in leading international journals and has received several prestigious awards, including the International AIDS Society’s CIPHER Fellowship and Stellenbosch University’s Postdoctoral Fellow of the Year Award. She currently leads and contributes to a range of funded research projects focused on adolescent wellbeing, mental health, and health service engagement.

Beyond her research, she is passionate about mentorship, capacity strengthening, and ethical research practice. She serves as Vice Chair of Stellenbosch University’s Health Research Ethics Committee (HREC2) and supervises doctoral students and early-career researchers.

Dr Laurenzi is dedicated to advancing equitable, contextually grounded research that bridges science, policy, and practice to improve the lives of young people across Africa.