GMZ2 Project Manager

Dr. Brenda Okech, PhD
GMZ2 Project Manager

Dr Brenda Apio Okech is the GMZ2 Project Manager since January 2009. The new Integrated GMZ2 Project is funded by European-Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP) and comprises a consortium of seven international partners operating under four work packages. As GMZ2 Project Manager, Dr Okech works in collaboration with consortium work package leaders to ensure smooth and timely implementation of the project. Particularly, she will be responsible for developing and implementing innovative and up to date information sharing mechanisms within the consortium, generating monthly updates of project activities, facilitating south-south and north-south trainees and fellowship placements within networked institutions, and organizing GMZ2 Project Steering Committee meetings among other activities.

Dr Okech brings with her extensive experience in different aspects of malaria vaccine trials. Prior to joining AMANET, she worked as a Senior Research Scientist at Med Biotech Laboratories (MBL) in Kampala, Uganda. At MBL, she was involved in preclinical malaria studies and also in preparations for future malaria vaccine clinical trials. She was also responsible for supervising graduate students and assisting the MBL Director in managing immunology projects.

Dr Okech obtained her Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry from Makerere University, Uganda in 1995, subsequently joining Med Biotech Laboratories as a Research Associate 1996. Dr Okech holds a PhD in Immunology from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (2000-2004). After her PhD, she returned to MBL until 2007 when she joined Glaxo Smith Kline (GSK) Laboratories in Belgium for a one-year WHO/GSK Fellow in management of malaria vaccine clinical research and development. She is currently a WHO Clinical Monitor and has provided consultancy in various missions.