Prof. Christian Happi was elected as an AAS Fellow in 2023. As a fellow, Prof. Christian Happi contributes to the development of the Academy's strategic direction through participation in AAS activities and governance structures. This gears the Academy's vision of transforming African lives through science.
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Country
Nigeria
Year Elected
2023
Discipline
Professor of Molecular Biology and Genomics, and Director of Institute of Genomics and Global Health
Country
Nigeria
Year Elected
2023
Discipline
Professor of Molecular Biology and Genomics, and Director of Institute of Genomics and Global Health
Christian Happi, is a Distinguished Professor of Molecular Biology and Genomics, and Director of Institute of Genomics and Global Health, Redeemer’s University, Ede, Nigeria.He graduated his PhD from the University of Ibadan in 2000, and did his postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard University (2000-2003). He worked at the Harvard School of Public Health as a Research Scientist (2004-2011). He is currently Adjunct Professor in the Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Harvard T H Chan School of Public Health, Boston, USA.
His research focus is on genomics of infectious diseases (Malaria, Lassa fever, Ebola Virus Disease, Monkeypox, Yellow fever, HIV, Covid-19, Marburg) and Human genomics. He has published over 230
peer-reviewed articles, most of them in top tier journals, with a Google Scholar citation of over 32,000 and H-Index of 55. With resources from many funding organizations, he established the African Center
of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases (ACEGID) and the Institute of Genomics and Global Health (IGH)--the foremost advanced genomics center and Institute in Africa. Through these platforms,
Prof. Happi has been able to support genomic sequencing of Human and pathogens in 42 African countries, and trained over 2,500 young Scientists from 53 of the 54 African countries.For his inspiring, seminal and innovative genomics research works, capacity building efforts, and health leadership development in Africa and the World, Prof. Christian Happi was listed in the TIME’s 100 most influential people in the world in 2025.
He has also received several prestigious national and International honors, Awards and recognitions including: the Merle A. Sande Health Leadership Award (2011); the
2019 Human Genome Organization (HUGO) Africa Prize; the 2020 Bailey K. Ashford Medal of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene; the 2021 Al-Sumait Prize for African Development
of the Kuwait Foundation for Advancement in Sciences(KFAS). He is a Fellow of: the Nigerian Academy of Sciences (FAS); the Academy of Medical Specialties of Nigeria (FAMS); the African Academy of
Sciences (FAAS); and a member of the US National Academy of Medicine (NAM).