Dr Ngugi is an Associate Professor of Epidemiology and Population health with close to 15 years of experience in health research in Africa. He is currently serving as the Interim Chair, Department of Population Health at Aga Khan University – East Africa. His interests range from the epidemiology of epilepsy, community health and health information systems, maternal and child health, to statistical epidemiology. In addition, he trains and mentors students and faculty of research methods, application of principles of epidemiology in research and epidemiological analyses.
Dr Ngugi’s key focus is strengthening health systems and providing technical data solutions in low resource settings. He developed and currently leads the Kaloleni-Rabai Health and Demographic Surveillance System (KRHDSS) in the coast of Kenya. KRHDSS is a regularly updated demographic and health information registry of close to 100,000 residents of a geographically defined region. This system builds the capacities of the local communities and health system for data generation, interpretation and use while also serving as a population health research platform by providing infrastructure, networks, and resources for supporting population health research and programs. Recently, Dr Ngugi’s interests have expanded to the application of data science approaches to predict population health outcomes, including the use of modelling to improve the allocative efficiency of health interventions.
