Walter Jaoko, MBChB, PhD, PGD

Professor of Medical Microbiology and Tropical Medicine, University of Nairobi

Walter Jaoko, MBChB, PhD, PGD is a professor of medical microbiology and tropical medicine, Director of KAVI, and former Chair of the Department of Medical Microbiology at the University of Nairobi. He has thirty years of experience in teaching and research in various aspects of infectious disease transmission, pathology, treatment, prevention, and control. He has published 166 articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals. He also has 16 years of management experience as Deputy Director of an Institute and Chairman of Department at the University of Nairobi, and 10 years of experience in governance as a member and chair of several Boards. In addition, he has a keen interest in health research ethics and received advanced training in research ethics through a Fogarty Grant of the NIH leading to a Postgraduate Diploma in Health Research Ethics from Stellenbosch University. He is very personate about clinical research and ethical standards in the conduct of health research in developing countries and has trained research ethics committee members in Kenya on principles of bioethics, and on international guidelines and regulations of research ethics.

Publications

  1. Sesay, FA, Balkus, JE, Jaoko, W, Mureithi, M, Mandaliya, K, Mwinyikai, K et al.. Association Between Vaginal Gram Stain Categories and Cervicitis in Kenyan Women Who Engage in Sex Work. J Infect Dis. 2026; :. doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiag519. PubMed PMID:42891560 .
  2. Fisher-Pearson, N, Lett, MJ, Maylam, IWD, Philp, CJS, Salio, M, Suckling, RJ et al.. Gut archaea drive human MAIT cell responses. bioRxiv. 2026; :. doi: 10.64898/2026.09.11.750638. PubMed PMID:42779774 PubMed Central PMC13596232.
  3. Oketch, DCO, Njoroge, R, Ngere, I, Gachohi, J, Jaoko, W, Muriuki, SW et al.. High brucellosis prevalence and risk among children aged 5-14 years in Kenyan pastoral health facilities: A facility-based surveillance study. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2026;20 (8):e0014129. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0014129. PubMed PMID:42574472 PubMed Central PMC13472494.
  4. Jecker, NS, Ravitsky, V, Faden, RR, Jaoko, W, Moreno, JD, Parker, M et al.. How "America First" Abandoned Global Health: The Case for an African Model. Am J Bioeth. 2026;26 (9):14-19. doi: 10.1080/15265161.2026.2692312. PubMed PMID:42359913 .
  5. Kosgei, J, Jaoko, W, Oyugi, J, Burns, N, Maswai, J, Owuoth, J et al.. Epidemiology of hepatitis B virus co-infection among people living with HIV in four countries in sub-Saharan Africa. PLoS One. 2026;21 (5):e0337789. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0337789. PubMed PMID:42201906 PubMed Central PMC13215549.
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