Bio

James joined the Programme in 2018 as a joint fellow between KWTRP and the Pirbright Institute, UK. At the Pirbright Institute, his research was focused on setting up a platform for foot and mouth disease, capsid specific single bovine B-cell sorting, B- cell sequencing, antibody expression and functionality assays in Prof. John Hammonds lab. In 2019 he came back to Prof. George Warimwe’s group and focussed on studying arboviruses including Rift Valley fever, Chikungunya and dengue, designing constructs for vaccine development and serological assays development to study these viruses. He is also the biosafety officer in the Programme. James studied BSc Biochemistry degree from Kenyatta University, Kenya. He then went to Wageningen University and Research centre (WUR), the Netherlands where he studied a MSc in Molecular life science (Biomedical research). His PhD research conducted at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Kenya and WUR focused on identification of novel Theileria parva antigens for development of a subunit vaccine for control of East Coast fever in Africa.

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Current Work

My current research focuses on development and validation of serological assays including 1) multiplexing pathogens such as arboviruses for sero-surveillance through the Luminex platform. This involves identification of target antigens, construct design, expression and purification of the recombinant proteins and their conjugation for multiplex testing. 2) Development of viral neutralization protocols and ELISA protocols to study these viruses. Recently, contributed to the development of SARS-CoV-2 ELISA and neutralization assays, the former has been used extensively to determine seroprevalence of anti- SARS-CoV-2 IgG in different target groups and was the first in Africa to estimate the extent of SARS-CoV-2 transmission in this population. My research also focusses on SARS-CoV-2 monoclonal antibody discovery including single B-cell sorting, B- cell sequencing, sequence analysis, recombinant antibody expression and assays to establish their functionality.

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Recent publications

Profile: The Kenya Multi-Site Serosurveillance (KEMIS) collaboration.
Kagucia, E. W., Voller, S., Ziraba, A. K., Bigogo, G., Munywoki, P. K., Makobu, K., Nokes, D. J., Nyagwange, J., Orlendo, C., Akech, D., Sigilai, A., Onyango, C., Juma, B., Herman-Roloff, A., Munyua, P., Apondi, C., Lidechi, S., Audi, A., Ouma, A., Aol, G., Misore, T., Nasimiyu, C., Onyango, D., Lo, T., Kasera, K., Jalang'o, R., Kingwara, L., Adetifa, I., Etyang, A. O., Warimwe, G., Agweyu, A., Scott, J. A. G.
Gates Open Res, (2024). 8:60

Evaluation of population immunity against SARS-CoV-2 variants, EG.5.1, FY.4, BA.2.86, JN.1, JN.1.4, and KP.3.1.1 using samples from two health demographic surveillance systems in Kenya.
Lugano, D., Kutima, B., Kimani, M., Sigilai, A., Gitonga, J., Karani, A., Akech, D., Karia, B., Ziraba, A. K., Maina, A., Lambisia, A., Omuoyo, D., Mugo, D., Lucinde, R., Owuor, S., Konyino, G., Newman, J., Bailey, D., Nduati, E., Githinji, G., Agoti, C. N., Bejon, P., Scott, J. A. G., Agweyu, A., Kagucia, W., Warimwe, G. M., Sande, C., Ochola-Oyier, L. I., Nyagwange, J.
BMC Infect Dis, (2024). 24:1474

Profile: The Kenya Multi-Site Serosurveillance (KEMIS) collaboration .
Kagucia, E. W., Voller, S., Ziraba, A. K., Bigogo, G., Munywoki, P. K., Makobu, K., Nokes, D. J., Nyagwange, J., Orlendo, C., Akech, D., Sigilai, A., Onyango, C., Juma, B., Herman-Roloff, A., Munyua, P., Apondi, C., Lidechi, S., Audi, A., Ouma, A., Aol, G., Misore, T., Nasimiyu, C., Onyango, D., Lo, T., Kasera, K., Jalang'o, R., Kingwara, L., Adetifa, I., Etyang, A. O., Warimwe, G., Agweyu, A., Scott, J. A. G.
Gates Open Res, (2024). 8:

Kinetics of naturally induced binding and neutralising anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody levels and potencies among SARS-CoV-2 infected Kenyans with diverse grades of COVID-19 severity: an observational study.
Kimotho, J., Sein, Y., Sayed, S., Shah, R., Mwai, K., Saleh, M., Wanjiku, P., Mwacharo, J., Nyagwange, J., Karanja, H., Kutima, B., Gitonga, J. N., Mugo, D., Karanu, A., Moranga, L., Oluoch, V., Shah, J., Mutiso, J., Mburu, A., Nneka, Z., Betti, P., Mutinda, W. U., Issak Abdi, A., Bejon, P., Ochola-Oyier, L. I., Warimwe G. M., Nduati, E. W., Ndungu, F. M.
Wellcome Open Res, (2023). 8:350

Safety and immunogenicity of ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 (AZD1222) vaccine in adults in Kenya: a phase 1/2 single-blind, randomised controlled trial.
Hamaluba, M., Sang, S., Orindi, B., Njau, I., Karanja, H., Kamau, N., Gitonga, J. N., Mugo, D., Wright, D., Nyagwange, J., Kutima, B., Omuoyo, D., Mwatasa, M., Ngetsa, C., Agoti, C., Cheruiyot, S., Nyaguara, A., Munene, M., Mturi, N., Oloo, E., Ochola-Oyier, L., Mumba, N., Mauncho, C., Namayi, R., Davies, A., Tsofa, B., Nduati, E. W., Aliyan, N., Kasera, K., Etyang, A., Boyd, A., Hill, A., Gilbert, S., Douglas, A., Pollard, A., Bejon, P., Lambe, T., Warimwe, G.
Wellcome Open Res, (2023). 8:182