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 is currently a Geologist and coordinator, Co-founder at N.M.K. Geological and Mining Consultant Services Ltd.

She 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.

Dr. Sylvia Wairimu Maina successfully defended her PhD Research thesis on Deciphering biosynthesis and utility of bioactive compounds in neglected African cabbage and Ethiopian mustard vegetables at Sokoine University of Agriculture, Morogoro Tanzania on 26th January 2023.

Her research aims to understand the health benefits of bioactive compounds in Africa’s orphan vegetables (African cabbage and Ethiopian kale) and strategies to improve their content in a smart farming system.

Dr Sylvia has authored four peer reviewed articles from her research findings which have gathered over 70 citations

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, currently a Member at the Society for Geology Applied to Mineral Deposits, 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.

His PhD research area is in Mining, minerals processing and extraction using environmentally friendly techniques; case study of columbite-tantalite ores  from Rwanda and Nigeria. The research focuses on processing and extraction of tantalite from its ores and concentrates using simple, affordable and eco-friendly techniques.

To date, Dr Baptiste has authored two publications and co-authored five research articles.

Dr. Jean Nepomuscene Hakizimana is PASET-RSIF Alumnus from Rwanda.

He is currently a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Oliver R Tambo Africa Research Chair for Viral Epidemics, Southern African Centre for Infectious Disease Surveillance (SACIDS) Foundation for One Health of the Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA), one of the Rsif African Host Universities (AHUs) where he completed his PhD studies.

Dr. Hakizimana is determined to contribute to containing viral epidemics in Africa. To date, he has published six (6) 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 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. He is currently a Lecturer of Microbiology at the University of Rwanda. His research area is in Molecular Epidemiology and Antimicrobial resistance of Campylobacter using One Health approach.

Dr. Gahamanyi completed his PhD studies at Sokoine University of Agriculture, Tanzania in 2021.

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 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.