Mary Kirui has more than 10 years of experience working on enteric pathogen surveillance and vaccine clinical trials in Kenya. She received her training in Microbiology at Moi University (BSc Microbiology) and Biotechnology (MSc Biotechnology) at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology.

She is a PhD fellow at the KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme, under the Initiative to Develop African Research Leaders (IDeAL). She is particularly interested in understanding the anti-shigellosis immune responses that may impact the outcome of deliberate infection with lyophilized Shigella sonnei 53G in a population where shigellosis is endemic. Her work is nested within the Shigella Controlled Human Infection Model Study which aims to understand the factors contributing to the chances of people living in an area that is endemic for shigellosis getting infected with Shigella. Working under the supervision of Prof. Melissa Kapulu, Prof. Christoph Tang and Dr. Rodney Ogwang, her focus is to understand the anti-shigellosis immune mechanisms and correlates of protection in challenge studies, determine the innate and humoral responses associated with infection outcome following S. sonnei 53G infection in Kenyan adults, determine the level of circulating antigen specific memory B cells and their association with infection outcome and to determine the effect of pre-existing immunity to other enteric pathogens on infection outcome.

The outcome of her work will improve the understanding of the broader immunological context in endemic settings that may modulate challenge or vaccine outcomes.