Dr. James Richard Otieno 😎

Dr. James Richard Otieno

Global Health Programmes | Surveillance Systems | Preparedness & Response | Strategic Partnerships

World Health Organization (WHO)

Professional Summary

James R. Otieno is strategic global health leader with expertise in surveillance systems, genomic epidemiology, preparedness planning, programme coordination, stakeholder engagement, and partnership development.

Experienced in leading complex multi-stakeholder initiatives across global, regional, and country levels.

Operating at the interface of science, policy, and implementation, I help organisations translate complex surveillance data into actionable priorities and sustainable preparedness and threat management frameworks.

Education

Project Management Professional (PMP)

Exam preparation in progress

Project Management Institute

Certificate in Global Health Project Management

2020

University of Washington (USA)

PhD

2019

The Open University (UK)

MSc Bioinformatics

2013

University of Leicester (UK)

Certificate in Leadership Development in Global Health

2012

University of Washington (USA)

BSc Biochemistry

2008

Moi University (Kenya)

Interests

Data-driven Risk Assessment and Public Health Decision Support Genomic Surveillance Systems and Epidemiological Analytics Capacity Strengthening for Genomic Surveillance in LMICs Pathogen Genomics and Virus Evolution Scalable Bioinformatics Pipelines (Cloud and HPC) Open and Reproducible Public Health Data Systems
Recent Publications

Note

Quickly discover relevant content by filtering publications.

Lorenzo Subissi, James R. Otieno, Christopher Ruis, Ingrid Rabe, Anurag Agrawal, Laith Jamal Abu-Raddad, Esam I. Azhar, Martin Beer, Haroldo Bezerra, Leon Caly, Meera Chand, Ariamys Companioni, Tulio de Oliveira, Isabelle Dietrich, Christian Drosten, Pablo Duran, Nuno R. Faria, Adeola Fowotade, Lionel Gresh, Baoying Huang, Jason Kindrachuk, Marion P. G. Koopmans, Bette Korber, Yee-Sin Leo, Placide Mbala-Kingebeni, Martina McMenamin, Nada M. Melhem, Vincent J. Munster, Bruno T. D. Nunes, Bas B. Oude Munnink, Felipe G. Naveca, Malik Peiris, Gustavo Palacios, Paola Resende, Angel Rodriguez, Senjuti Saha, Tadaki Suzuki, Andrea Vicari, Anne von Gottberg, Pragya Yadav, Jairo Mendez-Rico, Maria D. Van Kerkhove, Diana P. Rojas (2026). Oropouche virus: transmission, epidemiology, genetic diversity, and public health implications. eClinicalMedicine.
URL DOI
Lorenzo Subissi, James R. Otieno, Asma Abi Mohamed Shah, Laith Jamal Abu-Raddad, Anurag Agrawal, Amna Omair Al Mehairi, Ahmed Mohammed Albarraq, Amal Barakat, Ismail Mahat Bashir, Leon Caly, Meera Chand, Christian Drosten, Nuno R. Faria, Adeola Fowotade, Anne von Gottberg, Bart L. Haagmans, Baoying Huang, Jason Kindrachuk, Marion P. G. Koopmans, Bette Korber, Yee-Sin Leo, Placide Mbala-Kingebeni, Nada M. Melhem, Vincent J. Munster, Isaac Ngere, M. Kariuki Njenga, Tulio de Oliveira, Gustavo Palacios, Malik Peiris, Andrew Rambaut, Paola Resende, Senjuti Saha, Tadaki Suzuki, Pragya Yadav, Sophie von Dobschuetz, Esam I. Azhar, Maria D. Van Kerkhove (2026). Human MERS-CoV cases are falling but pose an ongoing pandemic threat. Nature Health.
DOI
Alice Matimba, Kirsty Lee Garson, Nidia S. Trovão, Siddiqah George, Yiqun Tony Li, Daniel Evans, Jorge Emmanuel Batista da Rocha, Heather M. Blankenship, James R. Otieno, Jolynne Mokaya, Tracey Calvert-Joshua, N Mulder (2026). Mapping the Landscape of Pathogen Genomics Training: A Structured Analysis of Training Provision within a Global Consortium Network. Frontiers in Public Health.
URL
World Health Organization (2026). Middle East respiratory syndrome: global summary and assessment of risk.
URL
World Health Organization (2025). Analytical considerations for genomic surveillance of mpox virus. World Health Organization.
URL
See all publications

Experience

Consultant Bioinformatician and Genomic Epidemiologist

World Health Organization (Geneva, Switzerland)

Genomic Epidemiologist (Contractor)

Theiagen Genomics (Highlands Ranch, CO, USA)

Genomic Epidemiologist

Theiagen Genomics (Highlands Ranch, CO, USA)

Postdoctoral Visiting Fellow

National Institutes of Health (Bethesda, MD, USA)

Postdoctoral Fellow

Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (New York, NY, USA)

Career Development Fellow

KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme (Kilifi, Kenya)

Research Officer

KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme (Kilifi, Kenya)

Intern

KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme (Kilifi, Kenya)

Medical/Pharmaceutical Representative

Europa Healthcare Limited (Nairobi, Kenya)

Volunteer Teacher

Kuja Special Secondary School for the Deaf (Rongo, Kenya)

Education

Project Management Professional (PMP)

Project Management Institute

Certificate in Global Health Project Management

University of Washington (USA)

PhD

The Open University (UK)

MSc Bioinformatics

University of Leicester (UK)

Certificate in Leadership Development in Global Health

University of Washington (USA)

BSc Biochemistry

Moi University (Kenya)