Dr. Obonyo Nchafatso, MBChB

PhD Student

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Obonyo attained his Medical Degree in 2009 from the University of Nairobi, before proceeding to Kijabe Mission Hospital for his internship programme in 2010. In 2011, Obonyo, joined the KEMRI – Wellcome Trust Research Programme in Kilifi as a Clinical Research and Training Fellow supervised by Professor Kathryn Maitland and Dr. Bernadette Brent. His main focus was on the study of heart function in severely malnourished children (CAPMAL study). In 2013 he was awarded the awarded the prestigious Global Health Research Fellowship at Imperial College London under the Wellcome Trust’s Institutional Strategic Support Fund for his work on management of shock in children (MAPS study). In 2014, he was a Research Medical Officer at KEMRI – Wellcome Trust in the study evaluating the efficacy of fluid resuscitation guidelines in severely malnourished children (AFRIM study). Since mid-2015, Obonyo has been based at the Critical Care Research Group in Brisbane, Australia as an Echocardiography Research Fellow which entails using high frequency sound waves (ultrasound) to scan the heart. His PhD, supervised by Professor Kathryn Maitland and Professor John Fraser, focusses on evaluating dysfunction of the heart during infection and the response to drip-fluid treatment.

Obonyo is interested in heart research because children with healthy hearts make the best footballers – they endure physical exercise and play with a ‘good heart’ (no yellow/red cards)! He has great interest in soccer.