Prof. Fred Were

Fred Were is Professor of Paediatrics and Child Health specializing in Newborn Medicine. He presently holds portfolios of; Chief Executive Director/Chief Executive Researcher at Kenya Paediatric Research Consortium(Keprecon) the research and projects implementation arm of Kenya Paediatric Association (KPA), part time faculty at Agakhan School of Medicine and Head of Research, University of Nairobi-Department of Paediatrics. He previously served as the Dean School of Medicine University of Nairobi (UON) and acting Principal College of Health Sciences (UON). Professor Were received his undergraduate medical degree training at the University of Nairobi. He then undertook a pediatric residency at the Kenyatta National Hospital under the auspices of the University of Nairobi. Soon after qualification as a Paediatrician, he spent two years at the Monash University/Medical Centre in a fellowship program leading to graduation as a Neonatologist. The period between 2002 and 2007 saw him return to the University of Nairobi where he functioned as senior lecturer and finalized his PhD which he obtained in 2008 and post-doctorate in the area of health systems and health systems research in 2021. Professor Were served as a National Chairman of The Kenya Paediatric Association (2002-2012) and Committee member of the World Association of Perinatal Medicine (2008-2011) among many others. He continues serving as member of the International Paediatric Association as standing committee member, International Society of Tropical Pediatrics, Eastern African Paediatric Association as president and Network for Education and Support in Immunisation (NESI) as Chair of the Oversight committee. He has published over 100 papers in the areas of newborn medicine and health systems. Alongside membership in the SAGE he also participates in several national and regional committees on immunizations (NITAG, TAG, Polio Certification) and recently appointed as Board of Director-PATH International. In Kenya he serves as an informal advisor on immunizations to the Ministry of Health where he has been pivotal in the development of the National Immunization Policy, Health Workers’ Guide to Vaccines and Immunization. He was appointed Chair of Kenya’s National Immunization Technical Advisory Group (KENITAG). Professor Were’s research interests lie in the areas of newborn medicine (with particular emphasis on nutrition of Low Birth Weight Infants) and health systems. He is committed to promote child health advocacy displaying particular vigor in the area of increasing childhood immunization coverage and public awareness.