Dr Njoki Kimani: My Fellowship at CEPI

In mid-2024 CEPI welcomed its inaugural Global South Fellows. The Fellowship Programme aims to build capacity for future global health leaders, enhance readiness for the 100 Days Mission in the Global South, and facilitate knowledge exchange through improved global collaboration, in support of CEPI’s vision for a pandemic-free future.

Now, halfway through the year-long fellowship, we caught up with Dr Njoki Kimani—one of the Fellows embedded in CEPI’s preparedness and response division—to discuss her experience. 

Can you tell me a bit about yourself?

My name is Dr. Njoki Kimani, a medical doctor from Kenya. I trained at the University of Nairobi and have over 10 years of experience practising as a general physician, mainly in primary healthcare facilities in rural communities across Kenya. Over the years, I have specialised in epidemiology and worked with the Ministry of Health in Kenya, supporting disease outbreak preparedness and response and surveillance.

How does your work help to contribute to pandemic preparedness and response? 

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, I spearheaded the establishment of a sub-national Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) within Kenya’s Ministry of Health. This hub became the central resource for coordinating and implementing an effective public health response. 

Since then, the EOC has become integral in building preparedness and response for emerging and re-emerging epidemic-prone diseases. To optimise its capabilities, we conducted exercises to test our operations, procedures and protocols, refining them for stronger, more effective responses for when it matters most. After an outbreak, we evaluate the performance of the EOC, taking time to reflect on what worked well, and what didn’t—using this information to iterate and improve upon for future outbreaks.

Tell me about the project you’re working on at CEPI  

Managing a rapid research response in an emerging outbreak, in line with the 100 Days Mission, is a complex endeavour. Not only is it complex, but it is also time sensitive. 

My fellowship project draws on my emergency response experience and focuses on designing and establishing a virtual Emergency Collaboration Environment (vECE). This virtual platform aims to enhance collaboration, communication and coordination among CEPI partners for an “end-to-end” vaccine response, as part of a wider public health response to outbreaks. The platform’s functionality is modelled on collaboration learning from existing EOCs, offering a centralised, real-time decision-making hub in a virtual environment that promotes faster and seamless coordination. 

A virtual emergency collaboration environment is suited when most responders cannot meet physically. The platform will bring together key information required to advance research and development of vaccine candidates during outbreaks. While in response mode, outbreak response teams function at hyper-speed mode and there is also increased demand for information on critical elements of upstream processes for vaccine R&D and epidemiological data to support the response. The vECE will host such information, supporting collaboration with CEPI’s outbreak response teams as well as partner organizations to provide a central hub for integrating relevant data and information to facilitate rapid response.

In an outbreak setting, where every second counts, timesaving solutions like this could be priceless.

What skills have you been able to share with CEPI during your fellowship? 

Some of the key skills that I have brought to the CEPI team include the ability to facilitate effective communication and coordination among diverse teams, as well as managing complex public health projects in resource-limited settings. My experience in engaging multiple stakeholders and ensuring alignment for smooth project execution has been particularly valuable. These skills are crucial for the success of the virtual collaboration platform.

What skills have you learned while being a Global South Fellow at CEPI? 

I have learned invaluable skills that will greatly enhance my contribution upon returning to my role. I have gained extensive experience working within matrixed environments and effectively coordinating with diverse, geographically dispersed teams, particularly through my involvement with CEPI’s outbreak response division. 

I also have deepened my expertise in vaccine manufacturing preparedness, a critical component of rapidly advancing vaccine research during outbreaks and epidemics, in line with the 100 Days Mission. Achieving this Mission will require robust systems that can withstand real-world challenges, which is why simulation exercises are essential for identifying and addressing gaps. Through my fellowship, I have contributed to designing and participating in these exercises, focusing on the early stages of vaccine R&D and manufacturing. 

I plan to use this knowledge to support health systems in the Global South align their preparedness strategies to support the rapid initiation of vaccine research during outbreaks. 

What do you hope to have achieved by the end of your fellowship?

I hope to have gained a more comprehensive understanding of vaccine clinical trial research. I also aim to learn and contribute toward streamlining real-world evidence collection during an outbreak response, particularly in low-income settings, by supporting and optimizing existing tools. Additionally, I’d like to expand my professional networks and contribute to knowledge sharing by documenting some of the lessons that I have learned from establishing a virtual collaboration platform for vaccine response during an outbreak.

My small contribution and participation in CEPI’s mission has reinforced the importance of public health preparedness and the critical role it plays in ensuring equitable access to vaccines. I look forward to driving forward preparedness efforts that will contribute towards building more resilient health systems.