Sphamandla is in his second year of the Public Health PhD program with a specialization in Community Health at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, School of Nursing and Public Health (SONPH). His research interest focuses on the measurement and improvement of the performance of community health workers (CHWs) programs, health equity, and program evaluation in low-income settings. His scholarly culminates in optimizing the Critical Role of CHWs in Building More Shock-responsive Health Systems using mix-methods.