Dumile Gumede is a lecturer at the Durban University of Technology (South Africa) and an experienced social behavioural scientist with a background in public health and socio-behavioural studies. Her main research interest is to understand how social and context influence one’s behaviours and health. She has conducted and managed social science studies on HIV, TB, COVID-19 and non-communicable diseases among vulnerable populations at various institutions including the Africa Health Research Institute and the South African Medical Research Council. Her experience also includes coordination of training and capacity development programmes for social science teams and facilitation of community engagement interventions with key stakeholders. She has presented numerous papers at national and international conferences and has published peer-reviewed journal articles in the fields of adolescent health and well-being, HIV prevention, health systems, innovative research methods, and research ethics. Currently, she is completing her PhD thesis at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (School of Applied Human Sciences). The title of her PhD thesis is ‘Caring for adolescents by older caregivers in the context of HIV combination prevention interventions in rural KwaZulu-Natal: An ethnographic approach’.