Dr. Harris Onywera is a distinguished public health scientist currently serving as a Bioinformatics Data Scientist for the Africa Pathogen Genomics Initiative at Africa CDC. He plays a strategic leadership role in advancing pathogen genomic surveillance and workforce capacity across African Union Member States to strengthen public health security on the continent. He also holds an academic appointment as Senior Honorary Lecturer in the Department of Pathology at the University of Cape Town (South Africa).
Dr. Harris’s research spans the human microbiome, sexually transmitted infections, human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated genital precancers and cancers, and the genomics of pathogens with epidemic and pandemic potential.
He earned a PhD in Medical Virology from the University of Cape Town, an MSc in Bioinformatics and Computational Molecular Biology from Rhodes University (South Africa), and a BSc (First Class Honours) in Biochemistry (Molecular Biology and Biotechnology) from the University of Nairobi (Kenya).
Dr. Harris has worked with leading institutions, including the University of Cape Town, the Centre for Genomic Regulation (Spain), the USAMRU-Walter Reed Project (Kenya), and the Kenya Medical Research Institute/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KEMRI/CDC). He has authored over 35 peer-reviewed publications, including studies on oncogenic HPV and bacterial pathogens in sub-Saharan Africa.