AMPATH Partners Host Advanced Biostatistical Training
Expertise in biostatistical methods empowers healthcare systems to use data to provide reliable insights for evidence-based decisions. For more than a decade, AMPATH partners have led initiatives to expand biostatistical education and develop a cadre of trained experts.
Professional statisticians, data scientists, university faculty members and graduate students from throughout the AMPATH partnership, as well as participants from across Kenya and Africa, gathered in Eldoret this summer for a workshop on advanced biostatistical methods.
“We are grateful for our partnership between Moi University, Brown University, University of Hasselt (Belgium) and New York University, as well as funding from the US National Institutes of Health and Fogarty International Center that made this opportunity possible,” said Ann Mwangi, PhD, associate professor of biostatistics and associate dean research & innovation at Moi University.
In addition to Professor Mwangi, other facilitators were:
Joseph Hogan, PhD, professor and chair of biostatistics at Brown University
Ziv Shkedy, PhD, professor of biostatistics and bioinformatics at Hasselt University
Rudradev Sengupta, PhD, senior trial design lead at One2Treat
Bernard Osang'ir, PhD candidate at Hasselt University
Richard Mugo, AMPATH biostatistician
“Participants came from universities, research centers, government ministries and non-governmental organizations that are focused on the analysis of biomedical and health data,” said Dr. Hogan. “During the week of learning, participants had technical sessions mixed with hands-on sessions and case studies to reinforce what they were learning. We had some very long, full days, but people left eager to plan the next meeting.”
The workshop included two parts: a training course entitled "An Applied Workshop on Survival Analysis and Machine Learning in Health Research" and a development workshop that is part of a project called >eR-BioStat ITP. The hands-on training course is part of NAMBARI (Moi University-Brown University partnership for HIV biostatistics training) and the Data Science for Social Determinants (DSSD) Training Program (New York University and Moi University partnership). Brown, NYU and Moi University are all partners in AMPATH Kenya.
AMPATH partners have been conducting workshops on advanced biostatistical methods annually for more than 10 years. This year there were nearly 100 participants from Kenya, United States, Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, Sierra Leone, South Sudan and Rwanda.
Professor Khaemba Ongeti, deputy vice-chancellor academic research extension and students affairs, opened the training and welcomed the participants on behalf of the host Moi University.
(The NAMBARI/DSSD/2025 Summer Workshop on Advanced Biostatistical Methods was funded by U.S. NIH-FIC Grants D43TW010050 & 1U2RTW012121 in collaboration with the eR-BioStat funded by Interuniversity Council for Developmental Cooperation (VLIR-UOS).)
