Africa Oxford Initiative

Kevin Marsh is co director of the Africa Oxford Initiative and professor of tropical medicine at the University of Oxford. He qualified in medicine at the University of Liverpool in 1978 and began his research career at the Medical Research Council Unit in the Gambia. From 1985-89 he was at the Institute of Molecular Medicine in Oxford and in 1989 established with colleagues a series of research projects on the clinical epidemiology and immunology of malaria at Kilifi on the Kenyan coast. These have subsequently developed into an international programme (the KEMRI Wellcome Trust Research Programme) involving around 800 staff working across a number of countries in east Africa of which he was director until August 2014. Kevin Marsh has a particular interest in research capacity and scientific leadership in Africa and has sponsored or supervised over 40 research fellows and doctoral students which have included five winners of the Royal Society Pfizer prize for research in Africa. From 2014 he worked with colleagues to lead the development of new platform for the acceleration of science in Africa which has now transitioned to become the Science for Africa Foundation. He is a member of a number of international advisory committees relating to malaria and to global health research. He is a fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences and of the The World Academy of Sciences. He was awarded the Prince Mahidol prize for medicine in 2010 and the Al Sumait prize for development in Africa in 2015.

Dr Anne Makena is the Co-Director of the Africa Oxford Initiative (AfOx), a vibrant platform for all things Africa at Oxford. Anne is responsible for developing and implementing the overall strategy of the Initiative (AfOx), as well as managing the core AfOx programs. AfOx supports a wide range of activities including a travel grant scheme and visiting fellowships for African academics, supporting high quality meetings and providing academic and mentorship support to African students and research staff in Oxford.

Dr David Kerr is the Programme Manager of the Africa Oxford Initiative (AfOx). David is responsible for managing AfOx programs and supporting the development of partnerships with universities and research institutions. AfOx supports a wide range of activities including a travel grant scheme and visiting fellowships for African academics, supporting high quality meetings and providing academic and mentorship support to African students and research staff in Oxford. Prior to joining AfOx David was a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Johannesburg where his research focused on street performance in Dar es Salaam.

Watu Wamae (PhD Economics of Innovation) is Research Engagement Manager at the Africa Oxford Initiative. She leads the AfOx Innovation Platform, which is aimed at connecting research to industry through innovation and entrepreneurship. Her focus is on creating opportunities for pre-seed high growth start-ups and massively scalable, seed-stage science and technology ventures through strategic partnerships with African partners.

Watu has a special interest in strategic approaches to networks for innovation and how these contribute to acquiring innovation capabilities. Other research interests include structural change and dynamics of growth in African economies; mechanisms for connecting research to industry; new perspectives and orientations of industrialisation and science, technology and innovation policy.

David Onyango Owino is the Communications and Stakeholder Engagement Manager of the Africa Oxford Initiative (AfOx). David heads the implementation of the communications and engagement strategy across education, innovation and research for all things Africa in Oxford. David is also part of the communications team delivering outreach and networking activities with a wide range of stakeholders in African institutions and the University of Oxford.  

Prior to joining AfOx, David was the Development Communications Coordinator at CABI, where he led communications and stakeholder engagement initiatives that catalysed the use of applied sciences to improve livelihoods across Africa.

Adelina is the Senior Administrator of the Africa Oxford Initiative (AfOx). Her responsibilities include day-to-day administration of AfOx, administration of AfOx Visiting and Alumni Fellowship schemes, financial management of AfOx grants, funding, procurement and logistics for the organisation. She is also the PA of the AfOx Director, Kevin Marsh.

Prior to working with AfOx, Adelina worked in the admin team of Tropical Medicine.

She holds a Master of Business Administration with a specialisation in Hospitality from Babes- Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca, Romania.

Chimwemwe leads the communications at the Africa Oxford Initiative (AfOx) to help AfOx achieve its goals. This includes engaging with a wide range of stakeholders in African institutions and the University of Oxford, creating and promoting content and managing events.

Before joining AfOx, Chimwemwe worked as a Communications consultant with UN Women in Malawi, where he was responsible for supporting and enhancing the visibility of the Spotlight Initiative, a multi-year global programme initiated by the European Union (EU) and the United Nations (UN) to eliminate violence against women and girls (VAWG). Chimwemwe has also worked with United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Malawi as a Communications Analyst, the Malawi Human Rights Commission as Public Relations Officer, and Zodiak Broadcasting Station as a Producer and Presenter.

Ester is the Programme Officer of the Africa Oxford Initiative (AfOx). Her responsibilities include day-to-day administration of AfOx, administration of AfOx Visiting and Alumni Fellowship schemes, financial management of AfOx Thrive awards, procurement, and logistics for the organisation.

Prior to working with AfOx, Ester worked as a Student Admin Officer in the Graduate team of the Engineering Department.

She holds a BA in English and Education from Cebu Normal University, Philippines, an Open Diploma from Open University, Diploma for Teaching in the Lifelong Learning Sector (DTLLS) from Swindon College and CELTA from Oxford and Cherwell Valley College

Ruth is the student facilitator for the Africa Oxford Initiative’s (AfOx) scholarship program. Ruth supports AfOx scholars with their needs before and after they arrive in Oxford. She organises the scholars’ orientation programs and coffee catch-ups that ensure that both current scholars and AfOx alumni stay connected.

Ruth holds a B.A in Interdisciplinary American Studies from the University of Tubingen in Germany and an MSc in African Studies from Oxford. She is now doing a DPhil in African American history at Oxford.

Chishimba Kasanga is the Student Engagement Officer at the Africa Oxford Initiative (AfOx). Chishimba is responsible for identifying ways AfOx can support African graduate students currently studying at the University of Oxford and graduate students working within the AfOx network but based at universities or institutions in Africa. She works closely with Oxford University student societies, particularly the Oxford Africa Society (AfriSoc) and the Oxford African and Caribbean Society (ACS). Chishimba is a recent graduate from Oxford; she pursued a master’s in Social Science of the Internet at the Oxford Internet Institute.