Associate Professor Jacob McKnight 

Dr Michuki Maina

Background

Conrad grew up and undertook elementary education at the foot of the Elgon ranges, in the rural countryside of Western Kenya. Intrigued by nature and the fond childhood memories of the countryside, he pursued a career as a paediatric nurse, and later transitioning into clinical/medical education. His research career began at KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme (KWTRP) within the Clinical Information Network (CIN) as co-investigator on the LIFE and SEARCH pneumonia studies. His recent research was co-leading a study to understand how health worker interactions influence the care of newborn babies in Kenya.

DPhil Study:

Conrad is an Oxford DPhil student in based, for most of his studies, overseas at the KWTRP. His research is on, “Understanding level of risk and readiness of Kenya’s health facilities and health system to extreme weather events” (i) identify and critique tool(s) for assessing Kenya’s health facilities to determine their vulnerability and risk to extreme weather events, (ii) review evidence to propose what elements of the health system, when assessed, can characterise risk and readiness of health facilities to extreme weather events for low and middle income countries such as Kenya and (iii) ultimately map and engage with stakeholders to co-develop a fit-for-context tool(s) for assessing level of risk and readiness of Kenya’s health facilities to extreme weather and climatic events.

The DPhil is nested in an NIHR funded Novel Extreme Weather Risk Insurance System for Kenya (NEWRISK) project.

Previous Education

• MSc medical education, University of South Wales, UK
• PGD medical education, University of South Wales, UK
• International Postgraduate Nursing, University of Sydney, Australia
• MPH, Kenyatta University, Kenya
• BSc Nursing, University of Nairobi, Kenya

Experience

• Current post: Honorary lecturer, Department of Nursing Sciences, University of Nairobi (2023-date) and tutor, post-graduate diploma in medical education, University of South Wales (2022-date).
• Previous post: Disaster and Emergency Incidents-Technical Advisor and Training Lead at the International Centre for Humanitarian Affairs, based at Kenya Red Cross Society, Nairobi, Kenya procedures.
• Previous post: Clinical Instructor & Tutor for post-graduate paediatric critical care and paediatric nursing, in Kenya