People of AMPATH: ADAT Team
The members of AMPATH’s Data Analysis Team (ADAT) provide AMPATH investigators with vital support for their research efforts. Meet the members of the team and learn about their special interests and what drew them to AMPATH.
Dr. Ann Mwangi
Dr. Ann Mwangi is the co-director of ADAT and also serves as one of the biostatisticians. She has an undergraduate degree in statistics and an Msc and PhD in biostatistics.
Dr. Ann Mwangi
“I have worked with the AMPATH program since 2005. The main reason why I applied to join the program was because I wanted to apply my statistical skills to help improve human health,” said Dr. Mwangi. “I was the pioneer local biostatistician in the program and was in the stakeholder’s workshop that came up with the various AMPATH research cores and the formation of ADAT.”
The ADAT team supports researchers in putting together the methodology section in grant applications, supports projects in designing the projects and the implementation as a whole. They also support the researchers in data management, data analysis, manuscript writing and dissemination of research findings. Dr. Mwangi’s favorite projects involve use of innovative statistical approaches.
“AMPATH is special because of the impact that it has had in informing policy in the management of not only HIV, but also noncommunicable disease—in other words, translating research to practice,” she said.
Mr. Allan Kimaina
Mr. Allan Kimaina
Mr. Allan Kimaina completed his MSc. Biostatistics at Brown University in 2019, where he concentrated his research on machine learning algorithms with applications to solving challenging HIV care and monitoring complexity within resource-constrained settings.
Allan's roles at ADAT largely revolve around supporting ADAT in cross-cutting research activities involving informatics and data science. Through the recently awarded NIH grant, Allan's primary responsibility will be supporting both ADAT and non-ADAT multidisciplinary teams in training, validating, and deploying machine learning-based clinical risk prediction models.
“ADAT makes the work of investigators easier by providing end-to-end support in their research project activities. From study design, data collection instrument design, study coordination, data extraction, data cleaning, data analysis to manuscript writing and publication,” he said.
“Besides AMPATH's breakthroughs in research and innovation, I believe AMPATH's holistic approach of taking care of its clients makes it a unique organization,” said Allan. “AMPATH goes far beyond treating its patients by going an extra step to improve other aspects of their lives, such as economic empowerment, education, and their futures.”
Mr. Richard Mugo
Mr. Richard Mugo
Mr. Richard Mugo always wanted to play a role in health care. “I actually wanted to be a doctor just like most African kids who grew up with limited exposure. Doctors were the beacon of hope in their villages,” he said.
He graduated with a Bachelor of Actuarial Science from Moi University in 2015 and was at the top of his class. He passed through the Van Wickle Gates at Brown in May 2018 with his head high as he graduated with a master’s degree in biostatistics and joined the ADAT team as a biostatistician.
His roles vary between projects. In most projects he provides biostatistical support, but due to the growing needs he also provides data management services in some projects. Richard enjoys offering advice, opinion, collaborating and engaging in constructive debates around data with diverse colleagues at AMPATH.“I like getting involved with clinical trials, monitoring, and evaluation of implementation science projects especially those testing novel community and facility-based strategies in the management of non-communicable diseases, and data analysis of existing AMRS data (retrospectives cohorts),” he said.
He advises that researchers who consult with ADAT at the earliest stages of their projects reap the most benefits. The ADAT team also offers training to other colleagues within the wide research network.
“Since its inception, AMPATH has played a big role towards HIV and AIDS eradication, support, and treatment. Its catchment area has also afforded researchers the opportunity to test various community-based strategies in the diagnosis and management of chronic diseases,” Richard said. “A lot of health facilities have benefited from infrastructure developments as well as the creation of a much more knowledgeable community.”
Mr. Edwin Sang
Mr. Edwin Sang
Mr. Edwin Sang is a biostatistician and lead data manager for ADAT/AMPATH Research program in Eldoret. He is the team leader and the principal educator for data management and plays a central role in constructing research-grade databases and applying both routine and advanced statistical analyses methods on various forms of data. His favorite types of projects to work on include causal inference, observational studies and longitudinal data analysis
Edwin has a master’s degree in biostatistics from Brown University and BSc. In mathematics from the University of Nairobi. He also received quantitative skills training at the division of biostatistics at the Indiana University School of Medicine and had a fellowship in biostatistics at the Centre for Statistical Sciences at Brown.
“The idea of AMPATH’s mission to promote health for the human family through an academic model of collaboration and education inspired my involvement with ADAT,” he added.