Samuel Muchiri PhD Student (co-supervision, Open University, UK)

  • SMuchiri@kemri-wellcome.org

Biographical sketch

Samuel graduated in 2019 with Bachelor degree in Geomatic Engineering and Geospatial Information Systems (GEGIS) from the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT, Kenya). He previously worked at the KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme (KWTRP, Kenya) from February 2021 to March 2025 as a GIS research assistant within the Population and Health Impact Surveillance Group (PHISG). He was tasked with spatial data assembly, remote sensing and geospatial analysis, undertaking systematic reviews and manuscript and report writing. During this time, he was fascinated by the use of machine learning methods to understand the distribution of mosquito species and this interesting grew where he found a niche in the study of Aedes species in Kenya.

PhD project

In April 2025, Samuel started his PhD at the Open University (UK) funded by the Initiative to Develop African Research Leaders (IDeaL, Kenya). He is co-supervised by Bob Snow and Emelda Okiro at PHISG (KWTRP, Kenya), as well as by Simon Dellicour at the Spatial Epidemiology Lab (SpELL, ULB). His PhD project aims to understand the past, present and future distributions of Aedes species in Kenya. To achieve this, he aims to use ecological niche modelling approaches to predict the probability of occurrences of Aedes species by assembling occurrence data and a suite of covariates that influence the Aedes mosquitoes’ habitats.

Publications

Malaria vaccine coverage estimation using age-eligible populations and service user denominators in Kenya
A. K. Moturi, R. Jalang’o, A. Cherono, S. K. Muchiri, R. W. Snow, and E. A. Okiro. "Malaria Journal", Vol. 22, Issue 1, Pages 287, 2023.

Geographic accessibility and hospital competition for emergency blood transfusion services in Bungoma, western Kenya
E. Mumo, N. O. Agutu, A. K. Moturi, A. Cherono, S. K. Muchiri, R. W. Snow, and V. A. Alegana. "International Journal of Health Geographics", Vol. 22, Issue 1, Pages 6, 2023.

Unmet need for COVID-19 vaccination coverage in Kenya
S. K. Muchiri, R. Muthee, H. Kiarie, J. Sitienei, A. Agweyu, P. M. Atkinson, C. Edson Utazi, A. J. Tatem, and V. A. Alegana. "Vaccine", Vol. 40, Issue 13, Pages 2011-2019, 2022.

Plasmodium falciparum parasite prevalence in East Africa: Updating data for malaria stratification
V. A. Alegana, P. M. Macharia, S. K. Muchiri, E. Mumo, E. Oyugi, A. Kamau, F. Chacky, S. Thawer, F. Molteni, D. Rutazanna, C. Maiteki-Sebuguzi, S. Gonahasa, A. M. Noor, and R. W. Snow. "PLoS Global Public Health", Vol. 1, Issue 12, Pages e0000014, 2021.