Paul Edward Okello is a highly accomplished Field Epidemiologist and Medical Microbiologist with nearly three decades of experience leveraging interdisciplinary concepts to resolve complex public health issues. He currently serves as the Country Coordinator for Data Impact Program (https://www.d4hdataimpact.org/), which is a collaboration of the Uganda National Institute of Public Health, the African Field Epidemiology Network, Bloomberg Philanthropies, and CDC Foundation.
The three aims of DIP entail building the capacity at Ministry of Health staff for translation of health data into actionable, evidence-based national policy recommendations, train health workers in scientific writing, and improve the quality of the Uganda Public Health Bulletin (https://uniph.go.ug/current-issue/).
Throughout his distinguished career, Mr. Okello has bridged the gap between advanced laboratory diagnostics and frontline public health action. He has managed large-scale laboratory operations, successfully steering the headship of Microbiology Laboratory at Joint Clinical Research Centre between 2007 and 2015 during which he immensely contributed to the international accreditation of the laboratory by the College of American Pathologists (www.cap.org). An expert educator and widely published researcher, Mr. Okello regularly mentors advanced fellows in Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Leadership programs.
He tremendously contributed to early molecular research in anti-malarial drug resistance and insecticide resistance of malaria transmitting mosquitoes in Uganda (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16896122/), all of which influenced national policy shifts, and he continues to contribute to global health security through numerous peer-reviewed publications on infectious disease dynamics.
He is an alumnus of the Uganda Advanced Field Epidemiology Training Program (https://uniph.go.ug/uganda-public-health-fellowship-program/advanced-fetp/), holds an MSc in Medical Microbiology from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and BSc Hons Applied Biology from De Montfort University (UK). He is a passionate and professional health scientist, a patriotic Ugandan and a Pan Africanist.