Thumbi Mwangi is an infectious disease epidemiologist combining classical epidemiology, applied epidemiological modelling and data science to improve the speed and quality of policy decision making in human and animal health. His research program conducts population-based studies, statistical and mathematical tools to understand the epidemiology, optimize surveillance and control of zoonotic diseases.
His current research includes implementation research for the elimination of dog-mediated human rabies, syndromic surveillance for early detection of zoonotic spillover, transmission and control of animal and human brucellosis, livestock interventions for improvement of human nutritional status, and transmission dynamics and control of SARS-CoV2 in Kenya.
He holds the positions of Senior Research Fellow at the University of Nairobi Institute of Tropical and Infectious Diseases, Associate Professor at the Washington State University Paul G Allen School for Global Animal Health, and the Chancellor’s Fellow in Global Health at the University of Edinburgh. He is an Affiliate Fellow of the African Academy of Sciences, and the South African Center for Epidemiological Modelling and Analysis.
He serves as the Chair of the National Technical Committee on Modelling advising the Kenya government on COVID-19 responses, member of the National Rabies Elimination Coordination Committee charged with oversight of the implementation of the rabies elimination strategy for Kenya, and member of Kenya’s Zoonotic Technical Working Group. Internationally, he is a member of the Technical Review Committee of the African Union Africa Risk Capacity - epidemics and outbreaks program, and co-chair of the United Against Rabies Forum Working Group on effective use of vaccinces, medicines, tools, and technologies. He has served as a member of the World Health Organization (WHO) rabies modelling consortium, and a member of WHO Rabies Expert Group.
His research has been funded by the Wellcome Trust, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, World Health Organization, UK Global Challenges Research Fund, Kenya National Research Fund, Paul G Allen Family Foundation, UK Medical Research Council, Scottish Funding Council, USAID, Sanofi Pasteur and the German Research Foundation.