BIOINFORMATICS HUB OF KENYA INITIATIVE (BHKI) CHUKA UNIVERSITY OUTREACH PROGRAM.

THIS EVENT HAS BEEN ORGANIZED BY BIOMEDICAL STUDENTS ASSOCIATION CHUKA UNIVERSITY (B.S.A.C.U) IN PARTNERSHIP WITH BIOINFORMATICS HUB OF KENYA INITIATIVE (BHKi)

ABOUT BIOINFORMATICS HUB OF KENYA initiative (BHKi):

Vision:

To be a vivacious, well-coordinated and enthusiastic hub that will develop bioinformatics and skills set through creating awareness, collaborations and capacity development.

Committee:

1. Pauline Karega – Msc. Bioinformatics Student at University of Nairobi currently doing her Research work at ICIPE.
2. David Mwaura – Master’s Student in Bioinformatics and Molecular Biology from  JKUAT, Kenya.His research interest is using bioinformatics and genomics in zoonotic studies and wildlife conservation.
3. Michael Kofia Landi – An EANBiT scholar completed his MSc in Bioinformatics at Pwani University. Currently, he leads the Bhki Steering committee
4. Margaret Wanjiku – Margaret Wanjiku is an EANBiT master’s fellow with a keen interest in big data analysis, omics and bioinformatics.
5. Festus Nyasimi – Festus Nyasimi is a Bioinformatician based at ICIPE. His research interests are in the field of epidemiology, virology, regulatory genomics, and bioinformatics.

About:

Bioinformatics Hub of Kenya (BHKi) is a Non-Profit Organisation registered in Kenya that develops and manages training in bioinformatics and computational biology and a space in which research in bioinformatics is practiced.

UPCOMING EVENT ON 25th JAN, 2023 @CHUKA UNIVERSITY – KENYA

BHKi has planned the third outreach program at Chuka University targeting all students in the Faculty of Science, Engineering and Technology, particularly those enrolled in:

1. Biomedical Science and Technology
2. Biochemistry
3. Biotechnology
4. BSc. Biology
5. Computer Science
   • The event will take place on 25th January, 2023 at the Student’s Business and Recreational Center, from 12 PM-3 PM.

Invited speakers include Bioinformatics, Open science, and Data science experts specialized in the -omics. They will share with the students the areas/fields of employment they can pursue after completing their undergraduate degree, skills they should strive to acquire, projects they can work on, and resources that are available to them. The proposed program for the day is shown below.

Program:

Talk	Time
Introduction to Bioinformatics Hub of Kenya initiative (BHKi)	12:10 – 12:20 pm
Trends in bioinformatics Objective: ● General overview of bioinformatics, what is bioinformatics in simplest terms ● What fields in bioinformatics ● Applications of bioinformatics in life science ● Potential opportunities – both part time online jobs and full-time jobs in the region and outside (where to explore) ● Areas to be keen when pursuing bioinformatics ● A glimpse of data science in genomics	12:20 – 1:00 pm
Q&A session	1:00 – 1:15 pm
Leveraging Open Science in Bioinformatics Objective: ● Introduce open science concept ● Open science taxonomy and skills ● Application of open science tools in research and bioinformatics ● Benefits of practicing open science	1:15 – 1:45 pm
Q&A session	1:45 – 1:55 pm
Networking session Objective: Students will be grouped into small groups led by a member of BHKi. The goal is to motivate students ● Open discussion – introduce themselves. Leads share their bioinformatics journey ● Questions ● Self-teaching – where to find short courses to develop one’s skill in bioinformatics ● Opportunities	2:00 – 2:35 pm