Provost’s Visiting Professors

Professor Casper Nyamukondiwa is based at the Botswana International University of Science and Technology (BIUST).

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Professor Nyamukondiwa's work primarily focuses on how environmental stressors, such as temperature extremes and droughts, affect the survival, behaviour, and adaptation of insects, with a particular emphasis on species of agricultural and ecological importance. He leads pioneering research in insect ecophysiology. His expertise spans insect thermal tolerance, pest management, and the ecological impacts of climate variability. His research has been pivotal in understanding how climate change affects insect populations and ecosystems, providing crucial insights for developing sustainable agricultural practices and pest control strategies in a rapidly changing climate.

Professor Olubukola Babalola is currently a Professor of Microbiology at North-West University (NWU) in South Africa.

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Professor Babalola leads groundbreaking research in plant-microbe interactions, soil microbiomes, and biofertilizers. Her research has been crucial in developing sustainable solutions for food security in regions facing environmental challenges, such as drought and poor soil quality. She is committed to finding innovative ways to reduce the reliance on chemical fertilizers and pesticides, emphasizing natural, biological alternatives to improve agricultural productivity while protecting the environment.

Professor Anita Patel is currently an Honorary Professor at Queen Mary, University of London.

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Professor Patel has spent her career at the intersection of health economics and public policy. She is widely respected for her expertise in evaluating healthcare interventions, assessing the value of new technologies, and helping to inform policy decisions that optimize the use of healthcare resources. Her research has been instrumental in shaping policies that ensure equitable access to healthcare, particularly in low-income and vulnerable populations. She is a distinguished health economist known for her impactful research on the economics of healthcare, with a focus on public health policy, cost-effectiveness analysis, and health technology assessment. Her work spans critical areas such as healthcare delivery, resource allocation, and economic evaluation of interventions aimed at improving population health outcomes.

Professor Mariko Okada is currently a Professor at the Institute for Protein Research, Osaka University, Japan.

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Professor Mariko Okada is a distinguished molecular biologist and immunologist, known for her groundbreaking research in cell signalling and immune system regulation. Her work focuses on understanding the intricate molecular mechanisms that control immune responses, which has broad implications for developing therapies for autoimmune diseases, cancer, and infectious diseases.
As a leading professor at a prestigious academic institution in Japan, Osaka University, Professor Okada has made significant contributions to the field of molecular biology, particularly in uncovering how cells communicate and respond to external stimuli. Her research into cell signalling pathways, especially those involved in immune cell function, has been pivotal in advancing knowledge about how the body’s immune system can be manipulated to fight disease more effectively.

Professor Thumbi Ndung'u is currently serving as the Scientific Director of the HIV Pathogenesis Programme (HPP) at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

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Professor Thumbi Ndung'u is a world-renowned immunologist and HIV/AIDS researcher, recognized for his contributions to understanding the immune response to HIV infection and developing strategies for an HIV cure. His work focuses on the complex interactions between the virus and the host immune system, as well as the genetic and biological factors that influence disease progression and treatment outcomes.

Professor Lei is Professor in the Department of Materials and Science and Engineering, and Program Leader of MSc in Materials Engineering & Nanotechnology, at the City University of Hong Kong. He is in charge of the editorial office of Nanophotonics Group (NPG) Light: Science & Applications in Hong Kong. He serves at the Frontiers in Photonics as an Associate Editor, and also sits on the Editorial Board of Journal of Applied Physics, Journal of Semiconductors, Journal of Physics Communications, Materials Today Energy, Acta Physica Sinica, Chinese Physics B, Nano Materials Science, and Journal of Light Scattering. Professor Lei was elected member of the The Hong Kong Young Academy of Sciences in 2022 and was awarded the “World’s Top 2% Most-cited Scientist” by Stanford University (single-year-impact) in 2022.

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Professor Lei obtained his PhD at the College, in the Department of Physics, where he then was a Research Associate (2011-2012). His areas of expertise are on nanophotonics, optoelectronics, and low-dimensional quantum materials, particularly on cavity enhanced nanoscale light-matter interaction and applications in miniaturized optoelectronics, sensing, imaging, energy conversion and saving.

Professor Kanjo is Professor of Pervasive Computing & Mobile Sensing and Head of Pervasive Computing Group and of the Smart Sensing Lab, at Nottingham Trent University. Professor Kanjo is the award lead of the new NTU-Turing Data Science Network funded by the Alan Turing Institute. Professor Kanjo was named Top 50 Women in Engineering in 2022 as awarded by The Women’s Engineering Society (WES).

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Her areas of expertise are in the development of pervasive systems, TinyML, multimodel sensing and intervention systems, edge computing, data science and technology for wellbeing.

Professor Agyei-Mensah is Professor in the Department of Geography and Resource Development at the University of Ghana. He has served the University of Ghana as Head of Department, Dean of the School of Social Sciences and as Provost of the largest College of Humanities which encompasses the Business School, School of Social Sciences, School of Law, School of Arts and School of Performing Arts. Professor Agyei-Mensah is the Director and Project Leader respectively of the Andrew Mellon Foundation funded Centre for Teaching and Learning Innovation (CTLI) and Building the Next Generation of African Academics (BANGA) project funded by Carnegie Foundation, New York. He has served as visiting lecturer/guest researcher in many universities across the world including Norwegian University of Science & Technology, Norway, University of Canterbury, New Zealand, University of Flensburg, Germany, Ohio State University, USA, and Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden. Professor Agyei-Mensah is a Fellow of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences.

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His areas of expertise are in using geographical concepts, geospatial technology and citizen science in studying population health and spatial inequality.

Professor Visweswariah is Honorary Professor in the Department of Developmental Biology and Genetics, at the Indian Institute of Science, in Bangalore.

Professor Visweswariah also holds an Adjunct Professor position at the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, at the University of Bergen, Norway. She is elected Fellow of the Indian National Academy of Sciences and elected Fellow of The World Academy of Sciences.

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Her areas of expertise are in cell biology, signal transduction mediated by cyclic nucleotides, microbiology, and structural biology. She studies mutations in cGMP-mediated pathways in patients with inflammatory bowel disease.

Professor Julie Makani is based at the Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS) in Tanzania.

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Haematology and blood transfusion, particularly sickle cell disease, how genomics can be used to understand disease and improve health, and how gene therapy can be used to cure disease.

One of the principal investigators for SickleInAfrica, a consortium working in eight countries in Africa and collaborating with colleagues around the world. SickleInAfrica is conducting research in clinical, social and implementation science, whilst improving standards of healthcare and training scientists, healthcare providers and community. 

Professor Pallab Maulik is currently the Deputy Director and Director of Research, George Institute for Global Health India, Professor at the Manipal Academy of Higher Education in India, and also an Associate Professor at the University of New South Wales in Australia.

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A focus on providing mental health services to the most disadvantaged communities in low and middle income countries, and India in particular – that includes people living in isolated rural areas and urban slums, and those who are incarcerated.

Professor Alessandra Luati joined Imperial College London on November 2022, as Provost’s Visiting Professor of Statistics in the Department of Mathematics. She is Professor of Statistics at the University of Bologna, Department of Statistics. Previously, she has been Adjunct Professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (EU) and Visiting Erskine Fellow at the University of Canterbury, Christchurch.  She was Deputy of the Head of Department at International Relations and Director of the Ph.D. course in Statistics at the University of Bologna.  She has been appointed Ambassador of the city of Bologna for scientific merits. 

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Alessandra obtained a Ph.D. in Statistics from the University of Bologna, with a thesis, developed at the University of Aarhus, on statistical inference for finite dimensional quantum systems. Her research interests are in the field mathematical statistics, time series analysis and non-linear dynamic models, with applications that range from finance to neuroscience.

Professor Lazarus Ojigi, Professor of Geomatics (Surveying and Geoinformatics), and was formerly with the Department of Geomatics, at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria.

He was the Director of Mission Planning and Satellite Data Management Department at the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA), Abuja, Nigeria. He is currently the Executive Director of African Regional Institute for Geospatial Information Science and Technology (AFRIGIST), under the auspices of United Nation Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), Obafemi Awolowo University Campus, Ile-Ife, Nigeria. Professor Ojigi’s research interests’ area is in Geodesy and Surveying.

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His specialisation areas include Space Geodesy, Satellite Remote Sensing, Geospatial Data Science/Computing and Engineering Surveying.

Professor Sasiragha Priscilla Reddy, Honorary Professor at the School of Education, University of KwaZuluNatal in South Africa. She has worked extensively  raising grants and training phd candidates successful with Masstricht university in the Netherlands, and also an Adjunct Professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Professor Reddy, a health promotion and behavioural scientist, is fully dedicated to eradicating racial discrimination and targets underserved and disadvantaged  communities  in South Africa. Professor Reddy was the founding Director of the Health Promotion and Development Research Unit of the South African Medical Research Council. Recently, Professor Reddy has been at the heart of developing nature-based carbon credit solutions to advance economic growth among underserved communities in emerging markets; working as Head of ISEE Carbon Farming, Science and Behaviours at RegeniamCo. LLC, New York, USA.  

Research areas

Her research interests include using quantitative and qualitative methods in behavioural science and public health to develop and test interventions that promote desirable behaviours and change behaviours that compromise human health. She has experience in tobacco control policy and behavior. Other areas of research include youth and sexual  behavior, adolescent pregnancy, and HIV and AIDS. Most recently she led the social science response to the covid-19 pandemic, while she worked at the Human Social Sciences  Research Council in partnership with the South African Government up to the level of the Cabinet and the President. Her passion is capacity development with a focus on equality, diversity and inclusion.