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Haematology Faculty

Full-Time Faculty


Malkit Riyat, MBChB, MRCPath, FRCPath 
Associate Professor  

Dr. Malkit Riyat completed his MBChB degree from the University of Nairobi in 1978 and underwent a World Health Organization (WHO) fellowship in Hematology from the Royal Infirmary, Glasgow in 1987. He was appointed as a Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologist in Hematology in 1997.

Owing to his unique training in both laboratory and clinical hematology, Dr. Riyat can perform hematological investigations, analyze and interpret blood and bone marrow samples to arrive at a diagnosis and treat patients with a variety of blood disorders/cancers. In 2002 he initiated and was responsible for the successful coordination and implementation of the now nationally prominent GLIVEC international patient assistance program (GIPAP) in Kenya. Dr. Riyat, due to his expertise in the field of blood transfusion, was appointed a core member of the team to develop a national policy on the guidelines for the appropriate use of blood and blood related products by the Ministry of Health, Kenya. Dr. Riyat’s current research interests include molecular biology and targeted therapy of hematological malignancies, hematological manifestations of HIV infections and the role of bone marrow microenvironment in multiple myeloma.

Publications

  1. Kasmani R, Othieno-Abinya NA, Riyat MS, Kiarie GW, Wanzala P. Environmental and occupational factors associated with chronic myeloid leukemia: a case-control study J. Afr Cancer 2014; 6(4):194-201.

  2. Kiraka G, Etabale M, Riyat MS A review of 74 patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma at a tertiary referral hospital in Nairobi, Kenya  J. Afr. Cancer (2014) 6:70-74 

  3. E. Mulwa-Babu, D. Paresh, Riyat MS. Applying consensus criteria to the evaluation of patients with suspected chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma. J. Afr Cancer 2014; 6(4):215-217.

  4. Kasmani R, Othieno-Abinya NA, Riyat MS, Kiarie GW, Wanzala P Environmental and occupational factors associated with chronic myeloid leukemia: a case-control study. J. Afr Cancer 2014; 6(4):194-201.


Dr. Elizabeth Kagotho , MBChB, MBChB, MMed 
Instructor, Clinical Pathology   

Dr. Elizabeth Kagotho graduated with a MBChB  from the University of Nairobi in 2009 and MMed in Clinical Pathology at the Aga Khan University Hospital Nairobi, 2016. She is currently a Clinical Pathologist at the Aga Khan University Hospital, Nairobi. She has a keen interest in Clinical Flow cytometry for the diagnosis of Acute Leukemia and Lymphomas and was trained on the same at the Toronto General Hospital, Toronto Canada. She was also involved in a multi-center study (Kenya, Nigeria South Africa) on establishing reference intervals for black African adults. She is a member of the International Society of thrombosis and haemostasis (ISTH) and one of the founding members of the Kenya society of thrombosis and haemostasis (KSTH).

Publications

  1. Geoffrey Omuse; Daniel Maina; Jane Mwangi; Caroline Wambua; Kiran Radia;Alice Kanyua; Elizabeth Kagotho; Mariza Hoffman;Peter Ojwang;Zul Premji;Kiyoshi Ichihara; Rajiv Erasmus. Complete blood count reference intervals from a healthy adult urban population in Kenya.  PLoS ONE 13(6): e0198444 2018

  2. Geoffrey Amuka Omuse; Daniel Maina; Mariza Hoffman; Jane Mwangi; Caroline Wambua; Elizabeth Kagotho; Angela Amayo; Peter Ojwang; Zulfiqarali Premji; Kiyoshi Ichihara; Rajiv Erasmus. Metabolic syndrome and its predictors in an urban population in Kenya: A cross sectional study. BMC Endocrine Disorders Volume 17, Issue 37 2017

  3. Geoffrey Omuse; Daniel Maina; Jane Mwangi; Caroline Wambua; Alice Kanyua; Elizabeth Kagotho; Angela Amayo; Peter Ojwang; Rajiv Erasmus. Comparison of equations for estimating glomerular filtration rate in screening for chronic kidney disease in asymptomatic black Africans: a cross sectional study. BMC Nephrology Volume 18 Issue 369 2017


Anne Mwirigi,

BSc, MBChB, MRCP, FRCPath

Dr. Mwirigi graduated with a MBChB degree from the University of Glasgow in 2002, having also a pursued an intercalated degree earning her Bsc (MedSci) in 2000 from the same university. After 4 years of Internal Medicine training in Glasgow and gaining Membership of the Royal College of Physicians in 2007, she commenced her career in Hematology as a Senior House Officer at King’s College Hospital. She thereafter became a Specialist Registrar at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Trust in 2009 and a Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologist in Hematology in 2012. She obtained her Certificate of Completion of Training (CCT) in 2014, and later took up consultant position for a period of two and a half years at both Guy’s and St Thomas’ and King’s College Hospitals. Dr. Mwirigi was recently a sub-investigator in the MEDALIST 2016 trial looking at the efficacy of luspatercept, a novel drug, in patients with myelodysplastic syndrome with ring sideroblasts who require blood transfusions. Dr. Mwirigi is an active member of various local and international hematological societies

Publications

  1. Gardner K, Douiri A, Drasar E, Allman M, Mwirigi A et al. Survival in adults with sickle cell disease in a high-income setting. Blood 2016; 128(10):1436-8 DOI 10.1182/blood-2016-05-716910.

  2. Mwirigi A., Hunt BJ. Re: Length of stay after Hip Fracture and short-term risk of death after discharge: a total cohort study in Sweden. BMJ 2015; 350:h696.

  3. Mwirigi, A et al. Is there benefit in extensive screening for cancer in patients with unprovoked venous thromboembolism? Thromb. Res. Dec 2015; 136(6); 1332-1333.


Nancy Okinda, 

BSc, MBChB, MRCP, FRCPath

Dr. Nancy Okinda is a hematologist and Assistant Professor in the Department of Clinical Pathology at the Aga Khan University Hospital, Nairobi. Dr. Okinda graduated with an MBChB degree from the University of Nairobi in 2003. After her internship, and two years serving as a Senior House Officer at the Aga Khan University Hospital and Gertrude’s Children’s hospital, she joined the Department of Clinical Pathology as a Resident. Following her four years training and obtaining a Master of Medicine in Clinical Pathology (MMed Clin Path) degree, she remained at the University, serving as an instructor and senior instructor in Clinical pathology for one year. She subsequently trained at the University of Cape Town (Groote Schuur), South Africa for one year (2011) receiving a subspecialty training in hematopathology. She is currently the resident program director in the department of pathology overseeing the running of both the anatomic and clinical pathology residency programmes. She has a keen interest in medical education and is currently pursuing her training in the same. She also has research interest in venous thromboembolism and haemato-oncology. She is a fellow of the College of Pathologist for East Central and Southern Africa, Member Kenya Association for Clinical Pathologists, Kenya Medical Association and hemato-onclogy society of Africa, Association of Pathologists of East, Central & Southern Africa (APECSA) and Kenya society of hemostasis and thrombosis

Publications


  1. Abidi SH, Shahid A, Lakhani LS, Khanani MR, Ojwang P, Okinda N, Shah R, Abbas F,Rowland-Jones S, Ali S. Population-specific evolution of HIV Gag epitopes in genetically diverged patients. Infect Genet Evol. 2013 Jun;16:78-86.

  2. Onsongo Simon, Abidi Syed Hani, Khamadi Samoel, Shah Reena, Kageha Sheila, Ojwang Peter, Ali Syed, and Okinda Nancy. Prevalence of Transmitted Drug Resistance Mutations in HIV-1-Infected Drug-Naive Patients from Urban and Suburban Regions of Kenya: AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses

  3. Reena Shah, Hilda Nabiswa, Nancy Okinda, Gunturu Revathi, Mark Hawken, Mark Nelson Prevalence of HLA-B*5701 in a Kenyan population with HIV infection Journal of Infection Published online: September 15, 2017