Mutahwa Liberty

LIBERTY MUTAHWA Phone number: (- (Mobile)- Phone number: (- (Work) Website: https://libertymutahwa.github.io/zw/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/mutahwa-liberty/ Email address: Website: Address: 1166, CBZ, Senga, Gweru, Zimbabwe (Work) ABOUT ME I am a motivated and detail-oriented bioinformatics student with hands-on experience in genomic data analysis, machine learning, and computational biology. I have developed predictive models for antimicrobial resistance and conducted differential gene expression studies in cancer research. Proficient in Python, R, Bash, and key bioinformatics tools, I am confident in analyzing complex datasets and creating reproducible research workflows. With strong communication skills and a passion for applying data science in healthcare, I aim to contribute to innovative research and public health solutions through bioinformatics. EDUCATION AND TRAINING 09/2021 – 06/2025 Gweru, Zimbabwe BSC HONORS DEGREE IN BIOTECHNOLOGY AND BIOINFORMATICS Midlands State University • Bioinformatics: Introduction to Bioinformatics, Biocomputing and Sequence Analysis, Biological Databases and Data Mining, Mathematical Methods for Bioinformatics. • Genomics and Molecular Biology: Molecular and Cell Biology, Molecular Genetics, Introduction to Genomics and Proteomics, Introduction to Whole Genome Sequencing, Population Genetics, Gene Structure and Function. • Programming and Data Analysis: Introduction to Programming for Biologists, Applications of Programming Languages in Bioinformatics, Experimental Design and Data Analysis for Biologists. • Health and Disease: Microbiology, Immunology, Principles of Pharmacogenomics and Precision Medicine, Molecular Modelling and Drug Design, Applied Virology. Website https://ww5.msu.ac.zw/ Thesis Development of a machine learning predictive model for antimicrobial resistance surveillance. WORK EXPERIENCE  MIDLANDS STATE UNIVERSITY RESEARCH INNOVATION HUB – GWERU, ZIMBABWE RESEARCH EXPERIENCE – RESIDENT INNOVATOR – 07/2024 – CURRENT • Led the production of an innovative herbal product, completing three formulation cycles and achieving market readiness within five months. This initiative resulted in a 40% increase in product inquiries during the initial pilot phase. • Designed and implemented research protocols that improved data accuracy by over 30% and reduced experiment setup time by 15%. 1/3 • Developed three research proposals, two of which secured internal funding and presented research findings to different stakeholders. • Managed a 6-month project timeline with zero overruns to ensure an on-time product launch. RESEARCH ASSISTANT INTERN (INNOVATION HUB PROJECTS) – 09/2023 – 06/2024 • Assisted in developing two research instruments (surveys and questionnaires) used for data collection in two major innovation projects. • Actively participated in weekly research team meetings, offering strategic input on project planning, timelines, and resource allocation. • Supported the formulation of two prototype products, incorporating stakeholder feedback to improve product stability and user acceptance before pilot testing.  MIDLANDS STATE UNIVERSITY CANTEEN – GWERU, ZIMBABWE VOLUNTEERING EXPERIENCE – 01/03/2023 – 31/07/2023 • Balanced academic responsibilities with part-time work, meeting deadlines and maintaining strong performance. • Developed communication skills through daily interactions with diverse customers, ensuring efficient service under pressure. • Collaborated with a multicultural team to ensure smooth operations and high service standards during peak hours. SKILLS Programming and Scripting Python R Bash Scripting SQL Git Bioinformatics Skills RNA-seq and gene expression analysis: DESeq2, GEO2R, R/Bioconductor NGS data handling and processing: SAMtools, SRA Toolkit Sequence alignment: BLAST, Bowtie, MAFFT, Clustal Omega Sequence retrieval and annotation: NCBI Gene, UniProtKB, KEGG pathways Biological database navigation: NCBI, UniProt, ENA, KEGG Functional genomics and pathway analysis: STRINGdb, GO enrichment Machine Learning Supervised learning techniques (Random Forest, Voting Classifier, Logistic Regression) Dimensionality reduction (PCA) Experience working with biological classification datasets (tumor diagnosis) Feature selection and model evaluation (confusion matrix, accuracy, precision, recall) Data Management and Analysis RMarkdown / Jupyter Notebooks in creating reproducible reports and sharing documented workflows. SQL for relational database management and structured queries for data retrieval. Cloud Computing using Google Colab for scalable data analysis. Operating Systems and Computational Environments Proficient in Linux/Ubuntu for bioinformatics workflows for data processing and pipeline execution Comfortable navigating command-line interfaces PROJECTS 01/10/2024 – 31/01/2025 Differential Gene Expression Analysis of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer 2/3 • Developed a reproducible bioinformatics pipeline to analyze differential gene expression in TripleNegative Breast Cancer (TNBC), integrating 3 publicly available GEO datasets. • Identified significant DEGs (adjusted p-value < 0.05) and visualized results using volcano plots, heatmaps, and PCA for dimensionality reduction. • Constructed protein to protein interaction (PPI) networks using STRINGdb to investigate functional relationships among top DEGs. Link https://github.com/libertymutahwa/TNBC-Omics 01/02/2025 – 04/2025 Tumor classification using machine learning • Developed a supervised machine learning pipeline in Python to classify breast cancer tumours as malignant or benign. • Identified the top biological features contributing to diagnostic predictions using random forest. • Achieved classification accuracy of approximately 97% and improved understanding of machine learning workflows applied to biomedical data. Link https://github.com/libertymutahwa/Breast-Cancer-Diagnosis CERTIFICATIONS 01/07/2024 – 30/10/2024 Atingi • Machine Learning: Data Preparation and Feature Engineering • Introduction to Machine Learning Problem Framing Link https://online.atingi.org/ 05/01/2025 – 03/03/2025 GHIG (Global Health Infection Group) • The Global Crisis of AMR and the Laboratory in the Prevention and Control of HAIs • Detection and Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing of HAIs to Guide Patient Management • Developing Laboratory Capacity for the Prevention and Control of HAIs in Healthcare Settings Link https://courses.globalhealthcpd.com LANGUAGE SKILLS Mother tongue(s): SHONA Other language(s): UNDERSTANDING ENGLISH SPEAKING WRITING Listening Reading Spoken production Spoken interaction C2 C2 C2 C2 C2 Levels: A1 and A2: Basic user; B1 and B2: Independent user; C1 and C2: Proficient user REFERENCES Dr F. Songwe Lecturer | Midlands State University |- Mr H. T. Takawira Supervisor | Midlands State University |-3/3