Dr. Ian Oyaro, BVM

Supervisors

Prof. Thumbi Ndung’u Dr. Eunice Nduati

Mentors

Dr. Evelyn Gitau Prof. Ifedayo Adetifa Dr. Yaw Bediako Dr. Agnes Gwela

Ian Oyaro has worked on sequencing and proteomic based techniques in a quest to improve diagnosis of febrile coma at the Kenyan coast. Additionally, he has also been involved in protocol optimisation studies for disease proteomics. Oyaro is interested in the evaluation of the role of early HIV-specific T and B cell interactions in predetermining downstream antibody function, in a quest to inform vaccine development. While clinical trials have shown favourable efficacies of several HIV/AIDS intervention techniques such as medical male circumcision, it is of great importance to develop a vaccine, as the currently existing methods require either behaviour change or expensive medical interventions. Determination of early immunological correlates that influence the development of broadly neutralising antibodies may suggest coherent approaches for successful vaccine development and identify useful biomarkers for assessing candidate vaccine immunogens. These biomarkers may hold the key to the development of antibody-based HIV vaccines.