Dr. Nguta

A Veterinary surgeon by training and Pharmacologist and Toxicologist by specialization, i am an Associate Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology at the Department of Public Health, Pharmacology and Toxicology (PHPT), University of Nairobi with twelve (12) years’ experience in undergraduate and postgraduate teaching and supervision. I hold MSc and PhD qualifications in natural product Pharmacology and Toxicology from the University of Nairobi. In addition, i hold Postdoctoral qualifications from Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR), College of Health Sciences, University of Ghana, where I pursued drug discovery against zoonotic tuberculosis from natural products of plant biodiversity. Specifically, I utilized whole cell assay and subcellular targets for lead compound identification and structural characterization of lead antimycobacterial compounds with rapid kill kinetics against latent, intracellular and active tuberculosis. My studies culminated in characterization of a new source steroidal sapogenin of spirostane type, solagenin (25S)-6α-hydroxy-5α-spirostan-3-one), with selective activity (SI index: 65) against the pathogenic Mycobacterium bovis (ATCC® 35720™) strain. Prior to the postdoctoral award by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) through Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR), I was a doctoral and later a postdoctoral fellow at the Department of Public Health, Pharmacology and Toxicology (PHPT), University of Nairobi, under support from Carnegie supported Regional Initiative in Science and Education, African Natural Products Network (RISE-AFNNET) University of Nairobi Node, investigating medicinal plants for antiprotozoal activity. I have supervised three (3) Doctoral (PhD) students and fifteen (15) Master of Science (MSc) students to completion. I have published twenty two (22) peer reviewed articles, and accumulated a total of Seventy eight (78) publication points, since my last promotion. I have published cumulatively fifty five (55) articles in leading peer reviewed journals. I have attended sixty eight (68) workshops/symposia and presented fifty five (55) papers/abstracts in both local and international scientific conferences. I have a cumulative citation of 1252, h-index of 17 and i10-index of 23. I have been awarded a total of six (6) travel grants and five (5) research/development grants since my last promotion by both local and international institutions. I have attracted educational resourses from American Society for Microbiology and British Council. I have continued to offer community service, as a Veterinary surgeon and also as a member of society. I was ranked position ninety seven (97) among the top one hundred (100) Kenyan Scientist by Webometrics in March 2015 (http://www.webometrics.info/en/node/106). In 2020/2021 Academic year, I was ranked among the top three Best Academicians in the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, and received the Vice Chancellors prize/recognition due to exemplary performance. I am the Country coordinator, One Health Ethics and Regulatory Procedures Project (OHEARP), and the Country Liason Officer, Global One Health Initiative (GOHi). I was the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) Young Ambassador for Science to Kenya, 2017-2020 (http://www.asm.org/index.php/this-week-in-international). Currently, I am the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) Country Ambassador for Science to Kenya. Since 2017, I was appointed as an Early Career Reviewer (ECR), by the Centre for Scientic Review (CSR), National Institute of Health (NIH), Bethseda, USA. I am a Member of Kenya National Academy of Sciences (MKNAS/217), a mark of academic integrity and distinction. I have special research interests in Natural Product Pharmacology and Toxicology, specifically, antimicrobial drug discovery from microbial and floral biodiversity, and One Health and Emergency research ethics.