Pandemic Center

Zakariyau Yusuf is the Executive Director of the Tech Governance Project, a nonprofit organization conducting policy research and advocacy on emerging technologies in Africa, focusing on AI and Biotechnology. In this role, Zakariyau leads many of the organizations biosecurity policy research and advocacy projects, including landscape analysis of biorisk governance in Africa, which explored policies, challenges, and emerging trends on the continent, as well as a project examining policies and governance approaches on nucleic acid synthesis in Africa to improve stakeholders awareness and governance strategies.

Before that, he led a research project at the Oxford Biosecurity Group aimed at enhancing stakeholders; awareness of governance gaps in biocontainment facilities for improved governance. He has also engaged with several biosecurity efforts and communities locally and globally in different capacities, including the NTI AIxBio Global Forum, CEPI Biosecurity Department, IBBIS, SIMBA, Pandemic Sciences Institutes Conference, and Nigerian Biological Safety Association, among others.

Early in his career, he worked on health interventions, focusing on increasing the uptake of routine immunization and modern contraceptives in Nigeria. He also engaged in community-building efforts, promoting the use of evidence-based approaches in addressing pressing global and local issues. He is an alumnus of the Ambitious Impact Incubation Program and has a background in microbiology and public health.