Kenya

Dr Symon Kariuki

Lead Researcher - KEMRI Wellcome Trust Research Programme

Professor Symon Kariuki is a researcher at the KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme in Kenya, where he co-leads the Neuroscience Research Programme. He is the chairperson of the National Epilepsy Co-ordinating Committee, which brings together government, non-government organisations and pharmaceutical companies to improve the care of people with epilepsy in Kenya.

Dr Damazo Kadengye

Lead Statistician - African Population and Health Research Center

Dr Damazo Kadengye is a Statistician with over 15 years of research and practice in Public Health and Educational Sciences. Presently, Damazo serves as an Associate Research Scientist and is Head of the Data, Measurement and Evaluation Unit at the African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC) in Nairobi, Kenya.

Dr Gershim Asiki

Epidemiologist - African Population and Health Research Center

Gershim Asiki is an Associate Research Scientist in the Health and Systems for Health Unit at the African Population and Health Research Center. He provides scientific leadership to the non-communicable diseases (NCDs) research program with a specific focus on generating population level evidence to inform NCD prevention and control, and strengthening the health system response to chronic disease management.

Professor Thomas Kwasa

Clinical Lead - University of Nairobi

Professor Thomas Kwasa is a Neurologist and Senior Lecturer in Internal Medicine and Neurology at the University of Nairobi. He is a Member and Secretary of Kenya Society of Epilepsy, and has conducted research on epilepsy in Nairobi and other parts of Kenya.

Dr Sylvia Kiwuwa Muyingo

Statistician - African Population and Health Research Centre

Dr Sylvia Kiwuwa Muyingo is a Statistician at the African Population and Health Research Centre in Nairobi. She previously worked as the Senior Scientist at the Medical Research Council and the Uganda Virus Research Institute.

Mary Bitta

DPhil Candidate - University of Oxford

Mary Bitta is a DPhil Student at the University of Oxford and KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme. Her research aims to understand the burden and barriers to treatment and treatment outcomes of people with common mental disorders in sub-Saharan Africa.

Dr Mercy Atieno

Project Coordinator and Research Assistant - KEMRI Wellcome Trust Research Programme

Dr Mercy Atieno is a Project Coordinator and Research Assistant at KEMRI Wellcome Trust Research Programme in Kilifi, Kenya. Her role is to coordinate the day to day activities of the EPInA Project in Kilifi as well as assisting in scientific reports and development of manuscripts. She holds a postgraduate diploma in Health Research Methods and an undergraduate degree in Pharmacy with interest in therapeutic monitoring of antiseizure medications commonly used in resource-limited settings.

Yvonne Thoya

Fieldworker - KEMRI Wellcome Trust Research Programme

Yvonne Thoya is a fieldworker with over 10 years of experience working in rural low-income settings in Kilifi, Kenya. She is interested in learning about the lived experiences of people with epilepsy and ways in which we can address the enduring stigma faced by people with epilepsy.

Dr Eddie Chengo

Epileptologist - Foundation for People with Epilepsy

Dr Eddie Chengo is a Clinician, Researcher at the Kenya Medical Research Institute, and Executive Director at the Foundation for People with Epilepsy. Previously he worked as an Epileptologist at KEMRI-Wellcome Trust.

Dr Osman Miyanji

Paediatric Neurologist - The Kenya Association for the Welfare of people with Epilepsy (KAWE)

Dr Osman Miyanji is a Paediatric Neurologist with vast experience in epilepsy management and one of the founding directors of KAWE (1982). He is also the chairman of the KAWE Board of Directors and the recipient of the International "Ambassadors for Epilepsy Award-2019” presented by the International Bureau for Epilepsy and the International League Against Epilepsy.

Patrick Ngechu

Programme Director - The Kenya Association for the Welfare of people with Epilepsy (KAWE)

Patrick Ngechu is Programme Director and Coordinator at the Kenya Association for the Welfare of people with Epilepsy (KAWE), a non-profit organization that seeks to address the challenges that people with epilepsy experience through a community participatory approach in Kenya.

Fredrick Beuchi

Epilepsy Activist - National Epilepsy Coordination Committee

Fredrick Beuchi is an Epilepsy Activist and the National Secretary for the National Epilepsy Coordination Committee, Kenya. In 2018 he embarked on an Epilepsy Awareness Expedition, where he walked from Nairobi to Mombasa covering 482 km in 12 days, and in 2020 he climbed Mount Kilimanjaro and created a documentary to promote epilepsy knowledge in Africa and beyond.