KidneyGenAfrica

Bio

Dr. Rotimi is a genetic epidemiologist whose work bridges genomics and global health. He founded the trans-institute Centre for Research on Genomics and Global Health at the NIH in 2009 with the mission of advancing research into the role of culture, lifestyle and genomics in disease aetiology, health disparities, and variable drug response. His research focused on the genetic and environmental determinants of complex diseases, particularly among African and African Diaspora populations. His lab contributes to the global understanding of human genetic variation by actively participating in the development of international genomic resources including the HapMap, the 1000 Genome and the African Genome Variation Project. He is on the Executive and Scientific Committee for the International Federation of Human Genetics Societies and was recently elected to the Human Genome Organization (HUGO) Council. He is the founding and past president of the African Society of Human Genetics (AfSHG).
He successfully led the establishment of the Human Heredity and Health in Africa (H3Africa) initiative with $76 million commitment from the NIH and Wellcome Trust. He was recently awarded an honorary professorship at the prestigious University of Cape Town, South Africa. He became the Chief of the Metabolic, Cardiovascular and Inflammatory Disease Genomics Branch in 2014.