Dr Sarah Naulikha Kituyi
Name: Dr Sarah Naulikha Kituyi.
Title/Qualification: PhD, MPH
Position: Lecturer.
Department: Department of Biological Sciences.
School: Pure and Applied Sciences (SPAS).
Areas of Specialization: Biochemistry and Biotechnology
Contact Address: P.O Box 6-60100 Embu.
E-Mail:
Short Biography
Dr. Sarah Naulikha Kituyi is a Biochemistry lecturer and global health scientist in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Embu, Kenya, with expertise in molecular biology, immunology, microbiology, biotechnology, and epidemiology. She is a recipient of the prestigious HBNU Fogarty Global Health Fellowship (2022–2025), awarded by the Fogarty International Center of the U.S. National Institutes of Health in collaboration with the Harvard University T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Through her engagement with the Fogarty Global Health Program, she contributed to strengthening research capacity at the University of Embu and currently leads a Biomedical Research Laboratory established to support molecular research, postgraduate training, mentorship, and collaborative biomedical investigations.
Her research focuses on protein-protein interactions in hosts, vectors, and pathogens and how these molecular interactions influence disease progression and prognosis. She is interested in translating these findings into diagnostic biomarkers, therapeutic targets, and vaccine candidates. Her research has investigated heat shock proteins, co-chaperones, and client proteins in cancer and malaria biology, including parasite-host interactions underlying severe malaria. She has also contributed to molecular epidemiology, pathogen genomics, natural products, and maternal and child health research.
Dr. Kituyi holds a BSc and MSc in Biotechnology, a PhD in Biochemistry from Rhodes University, South Africa, and an MPH in Epidemiology and Disease Control from Mount Kenya University. Earlier, as a CDPC Visiting Researcher at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth, she received advanced training in immunological techniques relevant to infectious disease research. Her doctoral and postdoctoral research in South Africa was supported through competitive funding, including the South African Research Chairs Initiative (SARChI), supported by the National Research Foundation (NRF) of South Africa, NRF-SA Innovation Doctoral Grant, Rhodes University Research Council Award, MRC-linked Postdoctoral Fellowship, and NRF-SA Visiting Researcher Knowledge Interchange Collaboration Grant.
Her research development has also benefited from international collaboration, including the TWAS-DFG Cooperation Research Visit Award, undertaken at the Technical University of Munich in 2022. She additionally serves as a Senior Research Scientist at the Mount Kenya University Institute of Tropical Medicine, where she contributes to multidisciplinary biomedical and public health research. Her work integrates molecular and epidemiological approaches to address infectious diseases and maternal and child health, bridging fundamental science with translational solutions for diagnostics, therapeutics, vaccines, and disease control in Africa and globally.
Honors and Awards
· Awarded the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH) 2026, Travel grant
· Awarded the HBNU Fogarty Global Health Fellowship (2022–2025), by the Fogarty International Center of the US National Institutes of Health in collaboration with the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health -D43 TW010543 (SNK)
· Awarded the TWAS-DFG Cooperation Visits Programme award (2021-2022) for scientists from Sub-Saharan Africa
· Awarded the National Research Foundation (NRF-South Africa) Visiting Researcher Knowledge Interchange Collaboration Grant -2018
· Awarded the Rhodes University Research Council Grant for Postdoctoral Fellows 2017
· Awarded a Medical Research Council (MRC-South Africa) Grant holder linked Postdoctoral Grant 2017.
· Awarded the National Research Foundation (NRF-South Africa) Innovations Doctoral grant 2016- UID101721
· Awarded the Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World (OWSD-TWAS) Postgraduate Fellowship in 2015
· Awarded the National Research Foundation (NRF-South Africa) Grant holder linked Postgraduate research grant at Rhodes University 2014
· Awarded the Brian Sharp Award for Top Ten Scientific Contributions Towards the Control of Malaria at the 6th MIM Pan-African Malaria Conference in Durban 2013
· Awarded the 6th MIM Pan African Malaria Conference Travel grant in 2013
· Awarded the Combat Diseases of Poverty Consortium Research Grant in Ireland 2010