[3][4] She then worked as a post-doctoral research associate at Arizona State University's Center for Infectious Disease and Vaccinology within the Biodesign Institute.
[5] As Chief Researcher and Competence Area Manager at CSIR Biosciences, she facilitated major global partnerships for CSIR, and was the lead for the African Biofortified Sorghum (ABS) project, which aim to produce nutritionally fortified sorghum, focusing on pro-vitamin A, protein quality and mineral bioavailability.
[5] Chikwamba was on the team which produced RabiVir, an antibody treatment made from plant leaves to treat rabies.
[6][10] In late 2019, Chikwamba was elected the Director General of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), but for personal reasons did not take up the position.
[11] During her career, Chikwamba was also a lecturer with the University of Pretoria's Departments of Plant Science, of Botany, and of Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI).