Winter Okoth

Kenya

Winter Okoth is currently a graduate student at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health within the Molecular Microbiology & Immunology department. Winter is also AAUW International Fellowship recipient 2015-2016. Her main biomedical/clinical research interests are in malaria and other infectious & tropical diseases endemic in the African continent and beyond. Winter’s goal is to partake in not only developing effective public health policies to help solve some of the national serious health problems experienced in Kenya and other developing countries but also creating awareness, finding cure and effective therapeutic measures and understanding the in-depths of these diseases, especially malaria, at cellular and molecular levels. Winter is also the founder & Executive Director at Pamoja Kenya Mentorship Alliance (PAKEMA) Organization. Also affiliated with Kenya Medical Research Institute (recent intern within the center for microbiology department), Thomas More College, and Mayo Clinic. Winter maintains that Malaria is still an epidemic in the African continent and other developing continents world-wide; it is one of the causes of high mortality and morbidity rates, especially among children, in these developing countries, Kenya being one of them. Therefore as a biomedical scientist in training, she believes that learning the concepts of the disease and the immunopathogenesis involved will enable for better critical thinking and designing of better and effective treatment models to help curb the situation. Winter is an ardent advocate for Zero-Malaria & a Malaria-free World, and with the recent interesting and promising scientific developments coming up in the fight against malaria, she strongly believes that we are headed towards : Complete Elimination of Malaria once and for all and that’s possible. Winter shares updates about malaria progress with her audiences both on and off the social media platforms through Facebook sharing, tweeting and retweeting insightful articles by WHO, PATH, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Malaria No More etc., and advocacy of #MalariaNoMore #EndMalariaNow. Winter is also the Founder & Executive Director at Pamoja Kenya Mentorship Alliance (PAKEMA) Organization, a grassroots 501(c)3 non-profit organization that serves as the 21st century mentorship movement and alliance of Kenyans & global elites extending mentorship and awareness programs to young school children, youths and communities situated in the underprivileged areas of Kenya and beyond. The P.A.K.E.M.A Mentorship programs focuses on health education, critical thinking, community service, entrepreneurial leadership, STEM empowerment, creating awareness on matters health-socio-economical and environmental, and academic growth & prowess of the young children, girls, and youths who are the future leaders. Winter’s passion for biomedical science & clinical research began when she was in high school at St. Gabriel’s Gagra Secondary School situated in the remote rural area of Kisumu, Kenya. She became very interested in health, science and other STEM courses; and especially understanding in-depth the mechanisms underlying the infectious diseases. The passion was inspired by and continued to evolve after experiencing the wrath of mosquitoes and suffering malaria couple times as well as the other public health diseases that her family members, friends and communities suffered from. Winter therefore became very interested in contributing in the fight against malaria and other infectious diseases not only in finding cures and effective therapeutic measures but also engaging in creating awareness in her communities and beyond through her involvement in public health end-malaria campaigns, creating awareness through her social media channels as well as through the health education curriculum that she helped develop together with her team at Pamoja Kenya Mentorship Alliance (PAKEMA) Organization. In 2014, together with her team, they started implementing the health education curriculum in the schools P.A.K.E.M.A Organization collaborates with in Kenya through the PAKEMA Mentorship programs. It’s the 21st century and Winter believes that we need to eliminate malaria; this is the century of achieving a Malaria-free World, the century we will fully achieve the breakthrough: Zero Malaria through teamwork and collaborative efforts from all fronts. Therefore all the advocacies, awareness, scientific pursuits and developments are all poignant in achieving this mission and getting rid of this public health pandemic! Winter believes that together WE can make it happen, Heal the World and Save the Humanity for all! #MalariaFreeWorld #ItIsPossible

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