Evelyn Gitau

Evelyn Nungari Gitau is a Kenyan cellular immunologist at the African Academy of Sciences, and was named a Next Einstein Fellow.

Early life and education Gitau grew up in the Dagoretti area of Nairobi, Kenya. She attended The Kenya High School from 1990 to 1993, where she developed a passion for chemistry, and would spend her free time at the chemistry lab at the University of Nairobi where her best friend's father was the head of the Chemistry department. After graduating high school, she was selected for the inaugural medicine class at Moi University but chose to study chemistry instead. Gitau's doctoral research investigated neurological infections in children living in malaria-endemic areas, specifically, how changes in protein levels could be used to detect severe disease. Gitau compared the proteins in the plasma and cerebrospinal fluid of children with cerebral malarial to those in children with other encephalopathies. Samples were initially frozen and shipped to Kenya from the United Kingdom, but Gitau was concerned that this processing could affect her research, so she lobbied for the purchase of much-needed equipment in her lab.

Gitau is the Director of Research Capacity Strengthening at the African Population and Health Research Center, contributing to its signature programme: the Consortium for the Advancement of Research Training in Africa (CARTA). Gitau also participates in a mentorship program in Kenya that aims to encourage more women to study science by pairing young girls with high school science students on science projects.

Awards In 2015, Gitau was named as a fellow of the Next Einstein Forum, which aims 'to create the right environment for the next Einstein to emerge from Africa'. She is the ambassador for the development of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics in Africa.

Gitau was also on the Quartz Africa Innovators 2016 List, which highlights innovators for their "groundbreaking work, thought-leading initiatives and creative approaches to problems."