Dr John Ojal

KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

Ojal has a PhD in Epidemiology and Population Health from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM). Before joining MPRU as a Research Fellow in Infectious Disease Modelling, he worked as a statistician in the Epidemiology and Demography Department at the Kenya Medical Research Institute, Wellcome Trust (KEMRI-Wellcome Trust) research programme in Kilifi, Kenya, for about 10 years. During this time, his work focused on assessing both individual and population level effects of vaccination with PCV on carriage and transmission of Streptococcus pneumoniae and the subsequent incidence of Invasive Pneumococcal Disease (IPD). He has extended findings on PCV impact to study the cost-effectiveness and the sustainability of PCV in Kenya. He uses mathematical modelling in most of his work. At MPRU, Ojal’s main focus is on modelling how countries, mostly in Africa, can switch to reduced dose schedules over time with the goal of cost-saving.

Links to selected publications:

1) Brand SPC*, Ojal J*, Aziza R, Were V, Okiro EA, et al. 2021. COVID-19 transmission dynamics underlying epidemic waves in Kenya. Science 10.1126/science.abk0414.

2) Ojal J, Griffiths U, Hammitt LL, Adetifa I, Akech D, et al. 2019. Sustaining pneumococcal vaccination after transitioning from Gavi support: a modelling and cost-effectiveness study in Kenya. Lancet Glob Health 7(5):e644-654.

3) Ojal J, Goldblatt D, Tigoi  C, Scott JAG. 2018. Effect of maternally derived anti-protein and anticapsular IgG antibodies on the rate of acquisition of nasopharyngeal carriage of pneumococcus in newborns. Clin Infect Dis 66(1):121-130.