Prof Simon Karanja is a Kenyan citizen and an Associate Professor of Medical Epidemiology and currently the Dean School of Public Health at the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology. He is holder of PhD in Epidemiology awarded from the Free University of Berlin, Germany in 2005. In addition, he holds a Master of Science in Tropical Epidemiology from the Free University of Berlin, Germany and Addis Ababa University awarded in 2000.
Prof Karanja is one of the leads of the JKUAT COVID-19 Modelling team. He was appointed to the National COVID-19 Modelling Technical Team that advised the MoH and the National Emergency Response Committee (NERC) on COVID-19 related issues.
Prof Karanja is the PI of projects supporting the Ministry of Health (MoH) and funded by the Foundation for Innovative Diagnostics (FIND): Utilization of digital tools to enhance COVID-19 and TB testing andlinkage to care among Boda Boda riders in the Nairobi metropolis, Use of digital tools in supporting COVID-19 screening, testing, contact tracing and patient management in Kenya and Network Optimization Designs for Improved Access and Efficiency of Essential Package of Diagnostic Services for Women and Children at Primary and Secondary Healthcare Level in Kenya among other projects.
In addition, He is a Co-PI in a number of research grants with partners from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich (ETH) on iron deficiency anemia and the use of various interventions to combat this.
Prof Simon Karanja is also the Chairperson of the National Commission for Science, Technology and Innovation (NACOSTI) Licensing, Monitoring and Evaluation of Research Committee.
He has also been a major consultant in USAID funded projects under palladium Kenya: Health Informatics Governance and Data Analytics (HIGDA) and County Measurement and Learning Program II (CMLAP II), KeHMIS among others.
Prof Karanja has published over 100 papers in peer reviewed journals, has one book and 2 book chapters in relevant medical books, Complete list of publications: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=5W6BMi8AAAAJ&hl=en
Email: skaranja@jkuat.ac.ke