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Samuel Mwaniki

Samuel Mwaniki

Organization: University of Nairobi


Region: Africa

Nationality: Kenya

Country: Kenya

Interests & expertise: Co-infections (TB, hepatitis, STIs, etc.)

Profession or occupation: Healthcare worker/social service provider


What inspires you to work in the HIV field?

I started my career as a pharmacist when antiretroviral therapy (ART) was becoming widely available in Kenya. Seeing the difference ART made in the lives of people living with HIV really inspired me to work in the HIV field. It was an opportunity to bring hope in despair and help people living with HIV have full and productive lives.

Currently, I am conducting research among young key populations. I feel they are an important demographic: whereas the incidence of HIV has continued to fall or stabilize in most parts of the world, key populations still bear a disproportionate burden. Coupled with particular vulnerabilities that young people experience, such as power imbalances in relationships, the risk of HIV acquisition is thus even higher among young key populations. I intend to carry on work to bring to the fore the disproportionate burden of ill health borne by young key populations, catalyse debate on young key population inclusion in universal health coverage, and inspire action to revolutionize the state of health services offered to young key populations. This is my motivation.

What are your goals as an IAS change maker?

My goal is to become a global research leader in the field of sexual and gender minority health. Sexual and gender minorities are part of the key populations disproportionately affected by the HIV pandemic. There is an ever-growing need for research in this area, especially given the growing wave of anti-sexual and gender minority legislation sweeping across the African continent, which threatens to erode the hard-earned gains in the response to the HIV pandemic over the past four decades. More than ever, leadership is now needed.

The IAS network of mentors boasts senior researchers with vast experience in HIV and sexual and gender minority health research. I deeply cherish and look forward to the opportunity to learn from these mentors. From their experiences, I hope to learn how to stay strong as a researcher working with populations with criminalized and stigmatized identities, how to place the health and well-being of the communities we serve at the forefront through public engagement, and how to conduct research that is ethical and positively impacts population health. Now is the time.

The IAS promotes the use of non-stigmatizing, people-first language. The translations are all automated in the interest of making our content as widely accessible as possible. Regretfully, they may not always adhere to the people-first language of the original version.