Fourth Meeting of the DS-I Africa Consortium
16 - 22 November 2024
The Ravenala Attitude Hotel, Mauritius

Mr Christopher Whalen - Participant

NIAID (Administrator)

Christopher Whalen has managed the design and implementation of information systems for bioscience organizations since 1995. In 2004, he launched the International Biomedical Research Support Program (IBRSP) for the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) at the NIH. Over the last 20+ years he and the program have focused on addressing the unique demands of multinational, multi-sponsor, and multi-institutional bioresearch communities operating in low- and middle-income countries. As IBRSP chief, he works under the Clinical Informatics Branch of NIAID's Office of Cyberinfrastructure and Computational Biology (OCICB) in collaboration and in support of the other intramural and extramural divisions of NIAID. This collaboration has led to the creation of a clinical data management platform for studies and trials as well as two High-Performance Computing (HPC) centers in Mali and Uganda, crucial for supporting the NIAID African Centers of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Data Intensive Sciences (ACE). The Clinical Informatics Branch has been instrumental in providing the necessary infrastructure and technical bioinformatics support, overcoming challenges such as data storage and internet reliability, and ensuring alignment with global research standards. He holds degrees in Applied Economics (BA) and Economic Theory (MA) from American University.