University
University of Nairobi
Area of Focus
Tropical Infectious Diseases
Education
Thérèse Umuhoza has earned an Organization of Women in Science for Developing Countries (OWSD) PhD in Tropical Infectious Diseases at the University of Nairobi. She completed her MSc in Epidemiology at the Institute of Tropical Medicine (ITM) in Antwerp, Belgium. Thérèse previously collaborated with the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI), US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention-Kenya (US CDC-Kenya), and the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) as a visiting research scientist to study the Zika Virus. Thereafter, she joined the Influenza and other Acute Respiratory Infections’ surveillance program at KEMRI as a primary investigator of non-influenza respiratory viruses’ epidemiology in Kenya. Thérèse currently serves as a moderator at the Program for Monitoring Emerging Diseases (ProMED) of the International Society for Infectious Diseases (ISID).
Research & Work
Thérèse is a research epidemiologist with a focus on tropical and viral infectious disease research and development programs. She has pivotal expertise in infectious disease surveillance, epidemic intelligence, and health information systems. As viral infectious diseases such as the Flu, COVID-19, HIV/ AIDS, and others, remain among the top threats to global health, Thérèse’s research and expertise inform policy on the risk that viral infectious diseases pose in our society, and the timing and effectiveness of interventions. As one of the Subject Matter Experts (SME) at ProMed, she monitors outbreaks daily and alerts the public health community to imminent threats and outbreaks.
