Linzie Juma

I am a Health specialist with over 6 years’ of experience working in public health laboratory programs and laboratory resource mobilization and allocation. I spearhead the HIV/AIDS Early Infant Diagnosis and Viral Load monitoring program at the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) based in Nairobi, Kenya. In this role, I am responsible for the management of different donor portfolios within HIV/AIDs, HPV, and COVID.

I oversee and manage a team of research professionals as part of leadership whose mentorship, career, and professional development are paramount to the success of the program goals and outcomes. Jointly with other Research Scientists, we are responsible for developing strategies and scoping for new areas/ gaps within the National ART landscape. I am a Strategic leader and expert in HIV/AIDS Early Infant Diagnosis and Viral Load monitoring.

I have a background in biochemistry and Molecular Biology, currently perusing MPH from UON.

Over 6 years experienced Research Scientist at the Knya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI), Nairobi Kenya. During which i have gained skills as below:

Molecular Biology | Laboratory systems management | HIV/AIDS Early Infant Diagnosis and Viral Load testing Research and development | Program administration |Project planning and development

Database implementation and management | Data analysis and reporting | Resource mobilization and allocation | Public Health Programming and Management | Train and manage teams.

The onset of global COVID pandemic in 2020, my focus has shifted to helping the national program address the challenges and gaps in COVID diagnosis. This included setting up molecular testing early during the pandemic leveraging existing HIV infrastructure and deploying simpler and cheaper rapid flow diagnosis to address the gaps in testing. This has included providing technical expertise in building national systems to capture testing and consumption data to support national procurement, forecasting and supply planning as well as ongoing analysis to guide policy, decision making and implementation strategies.

Sept 2021 to date: Masters in Public Health. University of Nairobi