Bio

Emelda has 20 years of Population and Public Health research experience. She has evolved the science of impact evaluation, epidemiology, population health, statistics, data analytics and operations research with a focus on research capacity mentorship in the Africa region. Emelda’s public health research expertise is inextricably linked to her commitment to supporting national policy, exemplified by her scientific role in the National Research component of various Kenya government policy groups. Emelda is deeply committed to improving routine epidemiological and demographic data from resource-poor countries to shape national health policies. Emelda is an established scientific leader leading the Population Health Unit within the Nairobi Programme, and importantly regionally, with an extensive international network of collaborators. Emelda sits on international and regional boards and steering committees, influencing agendas on public health science in Africa. Emelda is committed to her continued influence on women in science in Africa, the development of the careers of younger scientists and the appropriate balance of North-South research collaboration.

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Current Work

Emelda’s work has focussed on leveraging epidemiological data to improve the understanding of disease mechanisms and strengthen programme implementation of new tools and innovations to achieve a greater impact on health in Africa. She has applied her epidemiological science to a diverse range of important public health topics that plague the African continent: malaria, HIV, RSV, health access, under-five mortality, emerging infectious pathogens and anaemia.

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Recent publications

Paediatric anaemia in rural Kenya and the role of travel time to emergency care services.
Musau, M. M., Khazenzi, C., Akech, S., Omondi, E., Okiro, E. A., Snow, R. W., Macharia, P. M., Kamau, A.
Front Epidemiol, (2025). 5:1578522

When health data go dark: the importance of the DHS Program and imagining its future.
Khaki, J. J., Molenaar, J., Karki, S., Olal, E., Straneo, M., Mosuse, M. A., Fouogue, J. T., Hensen, B., Baguiya, A., Musau Nkola, A., Wong, K. L. M., Ba, O. A., Kikula, A., Grovogui, F. M., Semaan, A., Asefa, A., Macharia, P. M., Chikwari, C. D., Ouédraogo, M. O., Christou, A., Okiro, E. A., Mutua, M. K., Amodu, A., Phiri, M., Athanase, R., Kitara, D. L., Owolabi, O., Pembe, A. B., Afolabi, B. B., Beňová, L.
BMC Med, (2025). 23:241

Putting health facilities on the map: a renewed call to create geolocated, comprehensive, updated, openly licensed dataset of health facilities in sub-Saharan African countries.
Macharia, P. M., Beňová, L., Ray, N., Semaan, A., Musau, M. M., Kipterer, J. K., Herringer, M., Snow, R. W., Okiro, E. A.
BMC Med, (2025). 23:211

Evaluating the gap in rapid diagnostic testing: insights from subnational Kenyan routine health data.
Robert, B. N., Moturi, A. K., Bahati, F., Macharia, P. M., Okiro, E. A.
BMJ Open, (2024). 14:e081241

Health system quality and COVID-19 vaccination: a cross-sectional analysis in 14 countries.
Arsenault, C., Lewis, T. P., Kapoor, N. R., Okiro, E. A., Leslie, H. H., Armeni, P., Jarhyan, P., Doubova, S. V., Wright, K. D., Aryal, A., Kounnavong, S., Mohan, S., Odipo, E., Lee, H. Y., Shin, J., Ayele, W., Medina-Ranilla, J., Espinoza-Pajuelo, L., Derseh Mebratie, A., Garc�a Elorrio, E., Mazzoni, A., Oh, J., SteelFisher, G. K., Tarricone, R., Kruk, M. E.
Lancet Glob Health, (2024). 12:e156-e165