Alumni

Dr. Humphrey Andalo Mabwi successfully defended his PhD Research thesis on “Design of synthetic human gut microbiome ecosystem model for screening potential prebiotics” at Sokoine University of Agriculture, Tanzania on 2^nd November 2022. His research sought to design an in vitro system mimicking human gut microbiome ecosystem which can be used for rapid screening of potential functional foods, prebiotics and other materials beneficial to health. These will help in mechanistic studies of functional foods and prebiotics-human gut microbiota (GM) interaction, important in the development of novel therapeutics.

Dr. Jeanne Pauline Munganyika successfully defended her PhD Research thesis on Geometallurgical Characterization and Environmentally friendly method of gold leaching process in Rwanda and Nigeria at the African University of Science and Technology, Nigeria on 12^th October 2022. Her research seeks to characterize gold ores in different parts of Rwanda and Nigeria and to suggest the most suitable gold recovery method. This will help the two countries to reduce wastage during gold processing and to reap the benefits of their gold endowment.

David Oluwasegun Afolayan, who was enrolled at the African University of Science and Technology (AUST) in Abuja, Nigeria, one of the RSIF African Host Universities (AHUs), successfully defended his PhD theses on 20th December 2021 . His research was in the RSIF Thematic area of minerals, mining and materials engineering. Dr. Afolayan undertook his sandwich programme at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), one of the RSIF International Partner Institutions (IPIs), where his research focused on “Optimization of smart beneficiation and mineral bioprocessing strategy of Nigerian barite for industrial application”. He is currently a volunteer Postdoctoral fellow at the AHU (AUST, Nigeria).

Dr. Emmanuel Effah received his Ph.D. in Computer Science in the field of IoT from Gaston Berger University, Senegal, in February 2022 with funding from PASET-RSIF. He is currently a Lecturer at the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Mines and Technology (UMaT), Ghana. His research interests include wireless sensor networks (WSNs), Agricultural-Internet-of-Things (Agri-IoT), IoT-based Water monitoring System, smart systems design technology, and machine learning. He has authored many research papers published in reputable journals and conference proceedings and has participated in several international research projects.

Dr. Frejus Sodedji successfully defended his PhD Research thesis on Genetic diversity and optimization for increased carotenoids biosynthesis in cowpea at the University Felix Houphouët-Boigny in Abidjan, Ivory Coast on 8^th September 2022. He is currently a Research Associate at the University of Abomey-Calavi in Cotonou, Benin. He is passionate about crop improvement, especially emerging approaches and technologies for developing nutrients dense improved varieties of food crops.

Dr. Jean Baptiste Habinshuti successfully defended his PhD Research thesis on Optimization of beneficiation and extraction techniques of tantalite ores at the African University of Science and Technology, Nigeria on 9^th September 2022. He is currently a Member at the Society for Geology Applied to Mineral Deposits. His research of interest seeks to add value to African mineral resources before export. The research focuses on processing and extraction of tantalite from its ores and concentrates using simple, affordable and eco-friendly techniques.

Dr. Jean Nepomuscene Hakizimana is PASET-RSIF Alumnus from Rwanda. Dr. Hakizimana is a PhD Fellow at the Africa Centre of Excellence for Infectious Diseases of Humans and Animals in Southern and Eastern Africa (SACIDS-ACE), who is determined to contribute to containing viral epidemics in Africa. Dr. Hakizimana completed his Ph.D. studies at Sokoine University of Agriculture, Tanzania in 2021 under the PASET scholarship. In Research, Dr. Hakizimana has five (5) published papers and four manuscripts from his Ph.D. research have been published in high impact international peer-reviewed journals, including Viruses.

Dr Hakizimana holds a Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) obtained in 2014 from Inter-State School of Sciences and Veterinary Medicine (EISMV) at the Cheikh Anta Diop University, Dakar, Senegal and an MSc in Veterinary Epidemiology and health risk management from the same university. His research interests include the epidemiology of viral diseases that threaten health, food security and livelihood, disease dynamics and the application of next generation sequencing technologies and associated bioinformatics to understand transmission dynamics of infectious diseases.

Dr. Noel Gahamanyi is PASET-RSIF Alumnus from Rwanda. Dr. Gahamanyi is a Lecturer of Microbiology at University of Rwanda. He is a Microbiologist with interest in Bacterial pathogens, their drug-resistance, and using natural products as alternative antimicrobials. Dr. Gahamanyi completed his Ph.D. studies at Sokoine University of Agriculture, Tanzania in 2021 under the PASET scholarship. Dr. Gahamanyi holds MSc in Microbiology from Jain University (India) and BSc in Biotechnology from the former National University of Rwanda. Before embarking on Ph.D. journey, Dr. Gahamanyi served as a Lecturer of Microbiology-related courses at Catholic University of Rwanda where he also served as Head of Biotechnology Department and then as the Vice-dean of the Faculty of Science and Technology (2013-2018). In Research, Dr. Gahamanyi has ten (10) published papers and one book chapter all related to Microbiology. Six of these papers are indexed in the PubMed. He also served as a reviewer for six (06) international journals. Dr. Gahamanyi chaired the committee in charge of monthly webinars for PASET scholars (2021-2020). Dr. Gahamanyi is a member of the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) and the Young East African Health Research Scientists (YEARS) forum affiliated to the East African Health Research Commission. Dr. Gahamanyi received a number of awards including the Best Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA) Postgraduate student Research Award for the academic year 2020-21 and the First-class with gold medal after completing MSc in Microbiology at top of the class (2013).

DR KOECH holds a PhD Degree in Material Science and Engineering and MSc. Degree in Physics. He is an RSIF alumnus and currently a lecturer of Physics in Moi University-Kenya. His research interest is on materials characterization for applications in solar cells, Light emitting diodes and energy storage devices. His current research, focus is on perovskite solar cell and has published a number of papers in this area.