Zakir has more than 15 years of experience in clinical trials research and is currently the CTU Coordinator at the HIV and other Infectious Diseases Research Unit as well as the CRS leader for the Verulam CRS. He has worked with various local and international sponsors on many landmark HIV prevention and COVID-19 prevention clinical trials. In his current role, he is responsible for close coordination of multiple NIH funded studies and trials testing PrEP and vaccine candidates.