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Hire Brian B.

Kenya

USD 30 /hr

Research Scientist | Infectious Diseases | Neglected Tropical Diseases | Vector Biology | NGS | Bioinformatics

Profile Summary

Research Scientist with 7+ years specialising in vector biology, infectious disease, and genomics. I help research teams and biotech organizations with bioinformatics analysis (NGS, transcriptomics, metagenomics), scientific writing, and molecular diagnostics, from study design through to publication-ready outputs. My work spans malaria, lymphatic filariasis, soil-transmitted helminths, and arbovirus surveillance, with hands-on experience across Oxford Nanopore, Illumina MiSeq/NextSeq, R, Python, and HPC environments. I have 8 peer-reviewed publications and actively review for journals including Parasites & Vectors and Scientific Reports. I'm available for remote consulting, manuscript editing, bioinformatics pipelines, and grant writing support.

Subject Matter Expertise

• ☆ Molecular Biology
• ☆ Omics
• ☆ Transcriptomics
• ☆ Proteomics
• ☆ Genomics
• ☆ Next Generation Sequencing (NGS)
• ☆ Entomology/Insects
• ☆ Medical Entomology
• ☆ Data Analysis
• ☆ Data Visualization
• ☆ Data Management
• ☆ Data Manipulation
• ☆ Data Cleaning
• ☆ Infectious Disease
• ☆ Tropical Medicine
• ☆ Malaria
• ☆ Technical & Scientific Writing
• ☆ Manuscript & Journal Article Writing
• ☆ Grant Writing

Services

• Writing

Writing Medical Writing, Technical Writing

Work Experience

Visiting Scientist

KEMRI-Wellcome Trust

October 2025 - Present

Research Scientist

Kenya Medical Research Institute

April 2021 - Present

Assistant Research Officer

KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme

June 2018 - March 2021

Education

MSc. Parasitology (Biological Sciences)

Pwani University

September 2022 - Present

BSc. Medical Microbiology (Medical microbiology)

Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology

September 2013 - June 2017

Certifications

• Certification details not provided.

Publications

PREPRINT

Brian Bartilol, Maureen W. Mburu, Joel Owaret, Cheryl Andisi, Isabella Oyier, Simon Muriu, Lynne Elson, Marta Maia, Joseph Mwangangi, George Githinji, et al. (2025). The complete mitochondrial genome of Tunga penetrans and insights into flea phylogeny .

Brian Bartilol, Lawrence Babu, Karisa Garama, Jonathan Karisa, Alice Kamau, Charles Mwandawiro, Caroline Wanjiku, Charles Mbogo, Marta Maia, Joseph Mwangangi, et al. (2024). Xenomonitoring of Lymphatic filariasis and risk factors for transmission on the Kenyan coast .

JOURNAL ARTICLE

Karisa J, Ominde K, Tuwei M et al. Utility of MALDI-TOF MS for determination of species identity and blood meal sources of primary malaria vectors on the Kenyan coast [version 2; peer review: 2 approved] Wellcome Open Res 2024, 8:151 (https://doi.org/10.12688/wellcomeopenres.18982.2) .

Brian Bartilol, Jonathan Karisa, Kelly Ominde, Mercy Tuwei, Zedekiah Ondieki, Harun Musani, Caroline Wanjiku, Kioko Mwikali, Lawrence Babu, Martin Rono, et al. (2024). Utility of MALDI-TOF MS for determination of species identity and blood meal sources of primary malaria vectors on the Kenyan coast . Wellcome Open Research.

Bartilol, Brian, Babu, Lawrence, Garama, Karisa, Karisa, Jonathan, Kamau, Alice, Mwandawiro, Charles, Wanjiku, Caroline, Mbogo, Charles, Maia, Marta, Mwangangi, Joseph, et al. (2024). Molecular xenomonitoring reveals <i>Anopheles funestus</i> and <i>An. rivulorum</i> as the primary vectors of lymphatic filariasis in coastal Kenya . Parasites & Vectors.

Brian Bartilol, Jonathan Karisa, Kelly Ominde, Mercy Tuwei, Zedekiah Ondieki, Harun Musani, Caroline Wanjiku, Kioko Mwikali, Lawrence Babu, Martin Rono, et al. (2023). Utility of MALDI-TOF MS for determination of species identity and blood meal sources of primary malaria vectors on the Kenyan coast . Wellcome Open Research.

Bartilol, Brian, Bengtson, Michel, Messa, Augusto, Cambra, Maria, Rono, Martin, Kepha, Stella, Gandasegui, Javier, Valladares, Maria Martinez, Mandomando, Inacio, Mwandawiro, Charles, et al. (2023). Implementing molecular diagnostics for soil transmitted helminths in a multicentric clinical trial: external quality assessment in the EDCTP_STOP project . BMJ Global Health.

Mohammed KS, de Laurent ZR, Omuoyo DO et al. An optimization of four SARS-CoV-2 qRT-PCR assays in a Kenyan laboratory to support the national COVID-19 rapid response teams [version 2; peer review: 2 approved] Wellcome Open Res 2022, 5:162 (https://doi.org/10.12688/wellcomeopenres.16063.2) .

Brian Bartilol, Khadija Said Mohammed, Zaydah R. de Laurent, Donwilliams O. Omuoyo, Clement Lewa, Elijah Gicheru, Robinson Cheruiyot, Shadrack Mutua, Jennifer Musyoki, Horace Gumba, et al.(2022). An optimization of four SARS-CoV-2 qRT-PCR assays in a Kenyan laboratory to support the national COVID-19 rapid response teams . Wellcome Open Research. 5. p. 162. F1000 Research Ltd

Brian Bartilol, Irene Omedo, Domtila Kimani, S&#243;nia Gon&#231;alves, Eleanor Drury, Martin K. Rono, Abdirahman I. Abdi, Jacob Almagro-Garcia, Roberto Amato, Richard D. Pearson, et al. (2022). Spatio-temporal distribution of antimalarial drug resistant gene mutations in a Plasmodium falciparum parasite population from Kilifi, Kenya: A 25-year retrospective study . Wellcome Open Research.

Omedo I, Bartilol B, Kimani D et al. Spatio-temporal distribution of antimalarial drug resistant gene mutations in a Plasmodium falciparum parasite population from Kilifi, Kenya: A 25-year retrospective study [version 1; peer review: 2 approved with reservations] Wellcome Open Res 2022, 7:45 (https://doi.org/10.12688/wellcomeopenres.17656.1) .

Bartilol, Brian, Karisa, Jonathan, Ominde, Kelly, Muriu, Simon, Munyao, Vanessa, Mwikali, Kioko, Babu, Lawrence, Ondieki, Zedekiah, Tuwei, Mercy, Wanjiku, Caroline, et al. (2022). Malaria vector bionomics in Taita-Taveta County, coastal Kenya . Parasites & Vectors.

Bartilol, Brian, Omuoyo, Donwilliams, Karisa, Jonathan, Ominde, Kelly, Mbogo, Charles, Mwangangi, Joseph, Maia, Marta, Rono, Martin Kibet (2022). Vectorial capacity and <i>TEP1</i> genotypes of <i>Anopheles gambiae</i> sensu lato mosquitoes on the Kenyan coast . Parasites & Vectors.

Gumba H, Opiyo M, Musyoki J et al. Maintaining laboratory quality assurance and safety in a pandemic: Experiences from the KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme laboratory’s COVID-19 response [version 1; peer review: awaiting peer review] Wellcome Open Res 2021, 6:205 (https://doi.org/10.12688/wellcomeopenres.16704.1) .

(2021). Bionomics and ecology of Anopheles merus along the East and Southern Africa coast . Parasites & vectors.

Agoti CN, Mutunga M, Lambisia AW et al. Pooled testing conserves SARS-CoV-2 laboratory resources and improves test turn-around time: experience on the Kenyan Coast [version 1; peer review: 3 approved] Wellcome Open Res 2020, 5:186 (https://doi.org/10.12688/wellcomeopenres.16113.1) .

Brian Bartilol, Khadija Said Mohammed, Zaydah R. de Laurent, Donwilliams O. Omuoyo, Clement Lewa, Elijah Gicheru, Robinson Cheruiyot, Shadrack Mutua, Jennifer Musyoki, Horace Gumba, et al. (2020). An optimisation of four SARS-CoV-2 qRT-PCR assays in a Kenyan laboratory to support the national COVID-19 rapid response teams . Wellcome Open Research.