Prof. Faith Osier
Current Mentees
Dr. Daniel Kiboi
Dr. Daniel Kiboi
Daniel studied Biochemistry & Molecular Biology at JKUAT, Kenya. His postgraduate research focused on selecting and identifying molecular markers associated with antimalarial drugs piperaquine and lumefantrine resistance in rodent malaria parasites Plasmodium berghei. His study mapped promising mutations in proteins that are highly plausible candidates for mediators of drug action/resistance. During his PhD training, he visited Drs Oliver and Julian lab at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute. He trained on transfection work using gene knockout and epitope tagging, PlasmoGEM vectors for P. berghei and their application in validating resistance markers/drug transporters/targets. He later established and continued with the P. berghei transfection in KEMRI, Nairobi. Daniel joined the KEMRI-WTRP, Kilifi in 2016 as PostDoc under the WACCBIP Programme. His expanded focus is validating Plasmodium proteins associated not only with drug resistance but also to genes of interest in malaria immunity using both PlasmoGEM resources and CRISPR/Cas9 system.
Dr. Linda Murungi
Linda holds a BSc. (Hons) in Biomedical Science and Technology, Maseno University, an MSc. in Immunology of Infectious Diseases, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK, on a Wellcome Trust MSc fellowship and a PhD in Life and Biomolecular sciences, Open University, UK awarded in 2014 and sponsored by KWTRP in collaboration with the Jenner Institute at the University of Oxford, UK. In 2015, she joined Centre for Biotechnology and Bioinformatics (UoN) as a visiting Postdoctoral Fellow teaching pathogen biology, immunology and molecular biology, assisting with MSc and PhD research projects and providing training in proposal writing and statistical analysis. She is currently an Early Career Postdoctoral Researcher at KWTRP in collaboration with University of Copenhagen, Denmark.
Her research project focuses on understanding mechanisms and targets of immunity to malaria using monoclonal antibodies. Her research interest is in immunology of infectious diseases and pathogen biology. She has 12 publications in peer-reviewed journals.
Kevin Wamae
Email : KWamae@kemri-wellcome.org Kevin has a background in bioinformatics and his interests are in malaria elimination.
Malaria is a leading cause of child mortality in sub-Saharan Africa. When one is infected with the malaria-causing parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, they may develop symptoms of malaria or carry the parasite without presenting with any symptoms. These individuals who do not present with symptoms of malaria are said to be asymptomatic. The major problem associated with asymptomatic malaria infections is they become a constant source of parasites that sustain malaria transmission.
Kevin’s is looking to employ molecular and bioinformatics tools to further our understanding of asymptomatic malaria infections. A deeper understanding of these infections will help tackle them with a goal of eliminating malaria.
Past Mentees
Affiliations:
Nuffield Department of Medicine, Oxford University
UniversitatsKilinikum Heildeberg
Faith trained as a clinician at the University of Nairobi, Kenya and obtained her MBChB degree in 1996. She immediately took up her Medical Internship at Coast General Provincial Hospital, in Kenya where she also worked as a Medical Officer in the department of Medicine until March 1998. Thereafter she took up a post as a Medical Officer/Research Officer at KEMRI-Kilifi, working in the Paediatrics Department of Kilifi District Hospital. It was here that she began to develop a career in research, engaging in clinical research studies and actively taking part in institutional academic meetings including weekly journal clubs and seminars. She subsequently specialized in Paediatrics, training both in Kenya and the United Kingdom, becoming a member of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health UK in 2003 and a Consultant Paediatrician in Kenya in 2009. In 2004 she undertook a Masters in Human Immunity at the University of Liverpool, UK where she graduated with distinction, and was awarded a prize for being the best student of the year in the Department of Immunology. She has a PhD from the Open University, UK and currently works as a Clinical Research Fellow and Group Leader at the KEMRI-CGMR-C in Kilifi. She holds an Intermediate Fellowship in Public Health and Tropical Medicine from the Wellcome Trust, UK, and the prestigious MRC/DfID African Research Leader Award. In 2014 she was awarded the Young African Scientist Award by EVIMalaR, won the Merle A Sande Health Leadership Award and the Royal Society Pfizer Award. She is actively involved in capacity building for African Scientists and is building up a dynamic research group in Kilifi. Faith has been recently appointed Visiting Professor at the University of Oxford
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