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6th DS-I Africa Consortium Meeting

  • Plenary Session: Innovations in Infectious Disease and Surveillance in Africa

    Facilitator(s)

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    Dr Brad Newsome

    National Institutes of Health

    Brad Newsome, Ph.D., serves as a Program Director at the Fogarty International Center (FIC), part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH). Brad oversees an applied global health research portfolio geared toward advancing data science and innovation, health impacts of extreme weather events, mobile and digital health, point-of-care technologies, dissemination and implementation research, and medical/research capacity building efforts. Brad is a biomedical scientist trained at the interface of materials engineering, toxicology, environmental public health, and science policy, with research geared toward holistically addressing global health concerns associated with environmentally-induced non-communicable diseases.

    Speakers

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    A/Prof David Kateete

    DS-IAFRICA-TB: Tuberculosis in households with infectious cases in Kampala city: Harnessing health data science for new insights on TB transmission and treatment response

    Tuberculosis in households with infectious cases in Kampala city: Harnessing health data science for new insights on TB transmission and treatment response

    Associate Professor and Founding Head, Dept. of Immunology & Molecular Biology

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    Prof Alash'le Abimiku

    Role of Data Streams in Informing Infection Dynamics in Africa (INFORM Africa)

    Role of Data Streams In Informing Infection Dynamics in Africa- INFORM Africa

    Professor Alash'le Abimiku has been pivotal to the establishment of a long-term collaboration between Institute of Human Virology Nigeria (IHVN) where she serves as the Executive Director of the International Research Centre of Excellence at the Institute of Human Virology Nigeria

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    Prof Christian Happi

    Combatting AntiMicrobial Resistance in Africa Using Data Science

    Combatting AntiMicrobial Resistance in Africa Using Data Science

    Christian Happi is a Distinguished Professor of Molecular Biology and Genomics, and Director of the Institute of Genomics and Global Health (IGH), Redeemer's University, Ede, Nigeria. He earned his PhD from the University of Ibadan in 2000 and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard University (2000-2003). He later served as a Research Scientist at the Harvard School of Public Health (2004-2007), and is currently an Adjunct Professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, USA. Prof. Happi's research focuses on the genomics of infectious diseases-such as malaria, Lassa fever, Ebola, COVID-19, monkeypox, and Marburg-as well as human genomics. He has authored over 230 peer-reviewed publications, with 32,000+ citations and an H-index of 55. He founded ACEGID and IGH, advancing genomics capacity across 42 African countries and training over 2,500 scientists from 53 African nations. In recognition of his groundbreaking research, leadership, and capacity-building, he has received numerous prestigious awards, including TIME100 World's Most Influential People (2025), the HUGO Africa Prize, and the Al-Sumait Prize. He is a Fellow of FAS, FAAS, FAMS, and a member of the U.S. National Academy of Medicine (NAM).

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    Prof Emma Kalk

    The INSITE study: Optimizing Routine Digital Health Platforms for Service Strengthening and Research

    INnovative data Science to Impact the TB Epidemic

    Associate Professor Emma Kalk is a clinical epidemiologist with a focus on operational research in maternal and child health. Her current interests include pharmacovigilance and surveillance in pregnant and breast-feeding women with an emphasis on antiretroviral and anti-tuberculosis therapy, as reflected in her publication record. She manages the Pregnancy Exposure Registry in Cape Town (a sentinel-site of the South African Pregnancy Exposure Registry) which is supported by a larger population-level database. This involves collaborations with pregnancy registries nationally within South Africa and regionally. She works closely with colleagues from the provincial department of health to optimise data use for improved service delivery. Dr Kalk is co-chair of the International Union against Tuberculosis & Lung Disease Maternal-Child Working Group and co-chairs the Surveillance Working Group of the WHO/USAID/SMART4TB Optimal inclusion of pregnant women in TB drug and vaccine research consensus process.

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    Ms Christina Riley

    GDRS - Ghana: A Ghana case study for the Reveal Geo-enabled detect and respond system for antimalarial resistance

    Geo-enabled detect and respond system for antimalarial resistance in Ghana

    Christina Riley is a Director and Portfolio Lead at Akros, a small digital health firm that works to establish data-driven systems to improve the health and well-being of communities. She leads the design, research, and technical implementation of programs that utilize geospatial data for targeted public health intervention deployment and monitoring. She has conducted malaria operational research and programmatic implementation across the African continent and southeast Asia for more than a decade.

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    Dr Rose Nakasi

    DS-I Malaria: Automated Mobile Microscopy for Malaria Diagnosis and surveillance in Uganda

    Automated Mobile Microscopy for Malaria Diagnosis and surveillance in Uganda

    Dr. Rose Nakasi is an Artificial Intelligence Research Scientist and Lecturer at Makerere University, where she leads groundbreaking work at the intersection of AI and global health. As the Head of the Makerere Artificial Intelligence Health Lab she drives innovative projects such as the DS-I Malaria project in Uganda for automating Malaria detection and surveillance using AI under the NIH DS-I Africa consortium. With a PhD in Computer Science from Makerere University, Dr. Nakasi is a recognized leader in AI for health. She also spearheads the WHO/WIPO/ ITU Topic Group on AI-based Malaria Detection under the Global Initiative AI for Health (GIAI4H) and serves on the CODATA International Data Policy Committee, shaping ethical and policy frameworks for data-driven health solutions. Her work exemplifies a relentless commitment to leveraging technology for equitable, life-saving healthcare innovation.

    Rapporteur(s)

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    Dr Sophia Osawe

    Role of Data Streams In Informing Infection Dynamics in Africa- INFORM Africa

    Sophia Osawe is a Virologist and trained Immunologist with an interest in maternal and infant health and vaccine immunology. She is currently a Senior Scientist, the Head of Department, Research Operations at the Institute of Human Virology, Nigeria (IHVN), and the Research Hub Manager for INFORM Africa (contact PI: Prof Abimiku). Sophia has over 17 years of experience in diagnostics, research, system strengthening, project management, and the implementation of quality management systems. She has led several observational studies (two large cohort studies) and clinical trials. She also received funding to conduct studies on COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy, immune responses to prenatal and pediatric vaccines, and HIV drug resistance in the West African population.

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    Mr Karisa Kazungu

    UtiliZing health Information for Meaningful impact in East Africa through Data Science

    I hold a BSc in Public Health and work as an Assistant Research Officer, passionate about participatory and socially acceptable approaches to addressing the diverse societal problems of public health concern. I have experience in qualitative research methods, including ethnography, focus group discussions, in depth and key informant interviews, and co creation workshops. At KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme (KWTRP), I coordinate community engagement activities across multiple research projects in Kilifi, including UZIMA DS, conduct qualitative data analysis, and contribute to manuscript development and dissemination of study findings to different stakeholders.