A WSU virology and global health researcher, M. Kariuki Njenga, was named to the National Academy of Medicine for his work in infectious diseases and veterinary medicine. He is one of 11 WSU researchers elected to the National Academies.

According to a WSU News release, Njenga is currently based in Kenya’s University of Nairobi as the country’s director for WSU Global Health-Kenya. As the lead for WSU’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-supported program, he focuses on improving disease surveillance and outbreak management, as well as facilitates collaboration between experts in human and animal health.

From 2009-2014, he led CDC’s One Health in Kenya and established the country’s first Zoonosis Disease Unit. This included developing a five-year plan with the country to implement One Health, and finding funding to train veterinarians and physicians in Kenya, according to the release.

He is a professor in the Paul G. Allen School for Global Animal Health, which works with the World Health Organization, the CDC and others to eliminate rabies, which kills nearly 60,000 people each year. In Africa, the university has vaccinated over a million dogs since 2003.