Christian Happi is a Professor of

Molecular Biology Molecular biology is the branch of biology that seeks to understand the molecular basis of biological activity in and between cells, including biomolecular synthesis, modification, mechanisms, and interactions. The study of chemical and physi ...

and

Genomics Genomics is an interdisciplinary field of biology focusing on the structure, function, evolution, mapping, and editing of genomes. A genome is an organism's complete set of DNA, including all of its genes as well as its hierarchical, three-dim ...

in the Department of Biological Sciences and the Director of the African Centre of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases, both at Redeemer’s University. He is known for leading the team of scientists that used

genomic sequencing DNA sequencing is the process of determining the nucleic acid sequence – the order of nucleotides in DNA. It includes any method or technology that is used to determine the order of the four bases: adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine. The ...

to identify a single point of infection from an animal reservoir to a human in the

Ebola outbreak in West Africa The 2013–2016 epidemic of Ebola virus disease, centered in Western Africa, was the most widespread outbreak of the disease in history. It caused major loss of life and socioeconomic disruption in the region, mainly in Guinea, Liberia an ...

. His research focus is on

infectious diseases An infection is the invasion of tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmissible disease or communicable dise ...

, including

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...

Lassa fever Lassa fever, also known as Lassa hemorrhagic fever (LHF), is a type of viral hemorrhagic fever caused by the Lassa virus. Many of those infected by the virus do not develop symptoms. When symptoms occur they typically include fever, weakness, h ...

Ebola virus disease Ebola, also known as Ebola virus disease (EVD) and Ebola hemorrhagic fever (EHF), is a viral hemorrhagic fever in humans and other primates, caused by ebolaviruses. Symptoms typically start anywhere between two days and three weeks after becom ...

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...

, and

SARS-CoV-2 Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) is a strain of coronavirus that causes COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019), the respiratory illness responsible for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The virus previously had a ...

Early life and education

Professor Happi was born in

Sangmélima Sangmélima is a town on the Lobo River, and also the chief town of Lobo division ("Dja et Lobo"), in the South Province ('Province du Sud'), Republic of Cameroon, Africa. The language spoken there is Bulu. French, is also spoken as it is one ...

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

, fourth of seven children. He graduated from the

University of Yaounde A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...

, Cameroon, in 1993 with a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry with honors. He obtained his PhD from the

University of Ibadan The University of Ibadan (UI) is a public research university in Ibadan, Nigeria. The university was founded in 1948 as University College Ibadan, one of many colleges within the University of London. It became an independent university in 196 ...

, Nigeria, in 2000 and went on to Harvard University as a Postdoctoral Fellow from 2000 to 2003. He subsequently worked at Harvard University as a Research Scientist from 2004 to 2007. He became an adjunct Professor at Harvard University School of Public Health between 2007–2011.

Research and career

Happi has led several public health sequencing efforts in Africa. His team rapidly sequenced Nigeria’s first

Ebola Ebola, also known as Ebola virus disease (EVD) and Ebola hemorrhagic fever (EHF), is a viral hemorrhagic fever in humans and other primates, caused by ebolaviruses. Symptoms typically start anywhere between two days and three weeks after becom ...

case, and up to 20 cases a day throughout the outbreak. He sequenced

strains in a 2018 outbreak, helping researchers to conclude that the Lassa fever outbreak was due to spread by rats, rather than a mutation which had made it easier to spread between people. He also played significant roles in genomics efforts such as

1000 Genomes Project The 1000 Genomes Project (abbreviated as 1KGP), launched in January 2008, was an international research effort to establish by far the most detailed catalogue of human genetic variation. Scientists planned to sequence the genomes of at least one th ...

and H3Africa. More recently he has led efforts for

in Nigeria. In 2020 he gave a TED talk called
A virus detection network to stop the next pandemic
'.

Awards and honors

His awards and honors include; * 2020 Bailey K. Ashford Medal *2019 HUGO African Prize *2011 & 2012, ExxonMobil Malaria Leadership Fellow *2011, Merle A. Sande Health Leadership Award *2010, Scholarship to Second Annual Course on Point-of-Care Diagnostics for Global Health, University of Washington Seattle (USA) *2010, Boroughs Wellcome and Bill & Melinda Gates Awards, Genome Epidemiology Meeting (GEM), Wellcome Trust Conference Centre, Hinxton (UK) *2009 – 2014, Wellcome Trust Research Grant Award *2009, European Union-Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP) Senior Research Fellowship Award (The Hague, Netherlands) *2008, Chair, Scientific Advisory Committee Africa Health Research Organization (AHRO) (Ghana) *2007, Turner Biosciences Research Award (USA) *2005 – 2008, Plasmodium falciparum Pathogenesis and Applied Genomics Research Award, World Bank/UNICEF/WHO/TDR *2004, Chair, Molecular Parasitology session, 50th Annual Meeting and Anniversary of the ASTMH, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA *2003 – 2005, Member of the International Scientific Committee of the 4th MIM Pan African conference on Malaria (Cameroon) *1999, Best Postgraduate Student, PIMRAT, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria *1998, Wellcome Trust Award to the 1st Gordon Conference on Malaria (Oxford, UK) *1995, Best International Postgraduate Student, International Student association (ISA), University of Ibadan, Nigeria *1994 – 1997, Organization of African Unity (OAU) Research and Training Scholarship *1988 – 1993, Cameroon Government Scholarship

Personal life

He is married and has three children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Happi, Christian Living people Year of birth missing (living people)