Anthony K. Ngugi

Dr Ngugi is an Associate Professor of Epidemiology and Population Health and currently serves as the Chair, Department of Population Health and Associate Dean – Research at the Medical College, Aga Khan University – East Africa. Dr Ngugi is the foundation lead and Principal Investigator of the Kaloleni-Rabai Health and Demographic Surveillance System (KRHDSS), AKU’s flagship population laboratory and a cohort of over 100,000 individuals. This initiative not only underpins AKU’s population health research in Kenya but also supports the local County Department of Health in using high-quality household-level data for decision-making. A passionate advocate for research training, Dr Ngugi has led innovative capacity building programs to support students and faculty across AKU-EA and in Kenya and is currently co-leading the Global AKU Early Career Researcher’s Academy, the Research Initiative for Scholars Excellence (RISE) program. With over 17 years of research experience, Dr Ngugi’s work spans the epidemiology of epilepsy, community health systems, demographic transitions and ageing, maternal and child health, nutrition, and predictive modelling of health outcomes. He is the Principal Investigator of the Longitudinal Study of Health and Ageing in Kenya (LOSHAK) and has played a pivotal role in multiple multi-country studies and data platforms tailored to low-resource settings. Dr Ngugi holds a PhD in Epidemiology and Population Health and a Post-Graduate Diploma (Research) from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He is a member of the International Epidemiological Association, Global Health and Retirement Studies (HRS) and Harmonized Cognitive Assessment Protocol (HCAP) Studies Network. He has also served in leadership roles including as Board Chair of the Foundation for People with Epilepsy and Board Member of the National Epilepsy Coordination Committee (NECC). He holds adjunct research appointments at AKU’s Brain and Mind Institute, AKU’s Institute for Global Health and Development and the University of Michigan’s Centre for Global Health Equity.