Plenary Keynote Speakers

Prof Washington Yotto Ochieng, FREng, CEng, FICE, FCIHT, FRIN, FCInstCES

Professor Ochieng is the Head of the Centre for Transport Studies (CTS), and Chair Professor in Positioning and Navigation Systems at Imperial College London. CTS is one of the largest transport research and education groups in the world covering all modes of transport including planning, demand modelling, design, intelligent systems, operations, safety/security, environment and economics.

As Head of CTS, Ochieng is responsible for its research mission, strategy and delivery. He is a Chartered Engineer and Fellow of the UK’s Institution of Civil Engineers, Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation, the Royal Institute of Navigation and the Chartered Institution of Civil Engineering Surveyors. He is a Member of the United States Institute of Navigation and Associate of the International Association of Geodesy. He has successfully supervised 40 PhD students, published more than 150 papers in the leading international scientific journals and acquired research grants of more than UK£12 million. Ochieng has made very significant contributions globally to the design of complex safety-critical engineering systems, including space-based navigation and intelligent transport systems. Ochieng’s leadership in research is evidenced by both discovery of new ideas/concepts and their impact both in advancing science and practice as well as experience in providing expert input for policy and standards development. Ochieng’s exceptional contribution to Engineering was recognized in 2013 by election to the prestigious Fellowship of the Royal Academy of Engineering.

Professor Elizabeth A. Bukusi (ObGyn), MPH, PhD, PGD (Research Ethics), Masters in Bioethics, FAAS,

Professor Elizabeth A. Bukusi earned her general medical degree and Masters in Obstetrics and Gynecology degree from the University of Nairobi.  She then earned a certificate in international health, MPH and a PhD from the University of Washington’s Department of Epidemiology; a post graduate diploma in Research Ethics from the University of Cape Town and a Masters in Bioethics from Centre for Bioethics and Culture at the Sind Institute of Urology and Transplantation in Karachi.  She is a certified IRB Professional. She is a Chief Research Officer at the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI), a Research Professor at the University of Washington (Departments of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Global health), an honorary lecturer at Aga Khan University in Nairobi (Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology) and Volunteer Clinical faculty – Professor at the University of California San Francisco (Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences).  Her primary areas of interest in research focus on sexually transmitted infections, reproductive health, and HIV prevention, care and treatment and she has a keen interest in research and clinical ethics/ research regulatory systems.  She is a member of the Kenya National AIDS Control Council HIV prevention Task force and a member of the Board of Management of the South African Medical Research Council). She is also a board member of AVAC. She serves on the Advisory Board of International Centre for Reproductive Health (ICRH), is a trustee for the HIV Trust, and an Elected Fellow of the African Academy of Sciences (FAAS).

Prof. Hamadi Iddi Boga PS State Department for Crop Development and Agricultural Research

Prof. Hamadi Iddi Boga is the Principal Secretary of the State Department for for Crop Development and Agricultural Research in the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Irrigation in the Government of Kenya. He is the former founding Principal of Taita Taveta University and was its Vice Chancellor between 2007 and 2017. He was a Professor in the department of Botany at the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology. His skills and interests are in biology, agricultural science, sequencing, microbiology, molecular biological techniques and RNA genes. He also has an interest in microbial ecology of insects’ guts, soils and soda lakes and has worked with termites, the soda lakes of Kenya, mangrove swamps, agricultural and forest soils and also on Mount Kenya glacier. He has a PhD in Biology from Universität Konstanz in Germany.