Josephine Wairimu Kagunda

Kagunda grew up in a Kenyan village. Her father fundraised to enable her to study at university.^[1]

Kagunda studied her bachelor's degree at the University of Nairobi. She was awarded a PhD in Biomathematics from the University of Lorraine, France.^[2] In 2015 she was awarded an International Mathematical Union (IMU) scholarship to complete a period of research at the California State University, Northridge, Los Angeles, United States of America.^[3]

Kagunda teaches as a senior lecturer at the School of Mathematics, University of Nairobi^[1][4] and works with the Ohio State Health and Environment Modelling team (HEALMOD) at the College of Public Health, Ohio State University, Columbus, United States of America.^[5] She works on developing deterministic epidemiological models of infectious diseases to support the planning of effective public health interventions. She has published research on diseases including renal failure,^[6] HIV/AIDS,^[7] malaria^[8] and tuberculosis, as well as insecticide resistance.^[8] Her work has been cited in further studies on the impact of temperature in malaria disease transmission dynamics^[9] and modelling HIV/AIDS dynamics in Kenya.^[10] Kagunda has also participated in initiatives to explore the role of data-driven methodologies in pandemic modelling and control with students at specialist mathematics Cimpa Kenya School.^[11]

Kagunda is a member and the chair of the African Women in Mathematics Association (AWMA) and a member of the Kenya Women in Mathematical Sciences Association (KWIMSA).^[1][12][13] She is a reviewer for the international peer-reviewed journal the Universal Journal of Applied Mathematics.^[14]

In 2023, Kagunda presented at the SciDataCon as part of International Data Week 2023.^[15] In January 2025, Kagunda presented at the American Mathematical Society's Joint Mathematics Meetings AWM Special Session on modelling infectious disease dynamics.^[16]

• Josephine Wairimu publications indexed by Google Scholar
• Publications by Josephine Wairimu Kagunda at ResearchGate