Melissa Kapulu, DPhil (Oxon)

Youtube link : Breaking Barriers in Science: Prof. Melissa Kapulu’s Path to Leadership and Innovation

Melissa is based at the KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme, Kilifi Kenya where she is a Principal Research Investigator. She runs a research group and programme of work that includes better understanding naturally acquired immunity for the design, development, and evaluation of vaccines (pre-clinical and clinical). This involves understanding mechanisms of immunity following infection (natural and deliberate/induced infections) and vaccination. She works to develop and/or establish controlled human infection models, to identify, characterize, understand, and evaluate vaccines, in disease endemic populations. She leads a programme of work on internationally competitively awarded grants on the human infection studies platform in Kenya. In addition to general expertise on setting up human infection models in LMICs, she is a member of internationally organized working groups and committees advising on human infection studies in LMICs and including more recently on human infection studies on COVID-19; vaccines, and clinical trials. Melissa Kapulu is a Zambian trained immunologist and vaccinologist. She holds a BSc in Molecular Biology and Genetics from the University of Zambia; an MSc in Immunology of Infectious Diseases from London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine; and a DPhil in Clinical Medicine, from the University of Oxford. Primary areas of interest include development of vaccines for malaria and enteric infections. She is committed to and has successfully trained and supervised young African scientists at BSc, MSc, and PhD levels.