Javan Okendo brief biography

Javan Okendo completed his PhD at the University of Cape Town (UCT) in Professor Jonathan Blacknurn's laboratory.His PhD project main aim was to understand what constitutes protection and susceptibility to TB infections in humans. Javan is currently a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Shawn Burgess laboratory at the National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institute of Health, USA. He also has an MSc degree in Bioinformatics from UCT, awarded with distinction in 2018. Javan has a passion for big data analysis and translation research which informs critical policies, specifically in health. Javan has worked as a Bioinformatics consultant for the Distributed Platform for Omics (DIPLOMICs) in Cape Town. He has also worked as a Bioinformatician with Novartis Pharma in Basel, Switzerland. Before that, he was a research assistant at the Centre for Research in therapeutic sciences (CREATEs), Strathmore University, Kenya. Javan Okendo is a Kenyan citizen and a South African permanent resident. His personal mission is to develop individual and organizational capacities for positive societal transformation.

Javan and his children Jamaine and Sally.

Publications

1. Okendo J, Okanda D. Investigating expressed RNA variants that are related to disease severity in SARS-CoV-2-infected patients with mild-to-severe disease. Egypt J Med Hum Genet. 2022;23(1):84. doi: 10.1186/s43042-022-00299-5. Epub 2022 Apr 28. PMCID: PMC9047483.
2. Mwangi, Peter*, Javan Okendo*, Milton Mogotsi, Ayodeji Ogunbayo, Olusesan Adelabu, Hlengiwe Sondlane, Makgotso Maotoana, et al. “SARS-CoV-2 Variants from COVID-19 Positive Cases in the Free State Province, South Africa from July 2020 to December 2021 .” Frontiers in Virology , 2022. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fviro.2022.935131. *These authors contributed equaly to this work
3. Okendo J. Characterization of the expressed RNA variants from young patients with critical and non-critical SARS-CoV-2 infection. Egypt J Med Hum Genet. 2022;23(1):115. doi: 10.1186/s43042-022-00327-4. Epub 2022 Aug 3. PMCID:PMC9362069.
4. Soares NC, Ali A, Srinivasulu V, Sharaf BM, Giddey AD, Okendo J, Al-Hroub HM, Semreen MH, Hamad M, Al-Tel TH. Unveiling the mechanism of action of nature- inspired anti-cancer compounds using a multi-omics approach. J Proteomics. 2022 Aug 15;265:104660. doi: 10.1016/j.jprot.2022.104660. Epub 2022 Jun 18. PMID: 35728772.
5. Okendo J, Musanabaganwa C, Mwangi P, Nyaga M, Onywera H. SARS-CoV-2-positive patients display considerable differences in proteome diversity in urine, nasopharyngeal, gargle solution and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid samples. PLoS One. 2022 Aug 8;17(8):e0271870. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0271870. PMID: 35939435; PMCID: PMC9359582.
6. Okendo, J., Okanda, D., Mwangi, P. & Nyaga, M. Proteomic deconvolution reveals distinct immune cell fractions in different body sites in SARS-Cov-2 positive individuals. medRxiv 2022.01.21.22269631 (2022) doi:10.1101/2022.01.21.22269631.
7. Onywera H, Anejo-Okopi J, Mwapagha LM, Okendo J, Williamson AL. Predictive functional analysis reveals inferred features unique to cervicovaginal microbiota of African women with bacterial vaginosis and high-risk human papillomavirus infection. PLoS One. 2021 Jun 18;16(6):e0253218.
8. Tabb DL, Murugan BD, Okendo J, Nair O, Blackburn JM, Buthelezi SG, Stoychev S. Open search unveils modification patterns in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded thermo HCD and SCIEX TripleTOF shotgun proteomes. International Journal of Mass Spectrometry. 2020 Feb 1;448:116266.
9. Kimulwo MJ, Okendo J, Aman RA, Ogutu BR, Kokwaro GO, Ochieng DJ, Muigai AW, Oloo FA, Ochieng W. Plasma nevirapine concentrations predict virological and adherence failure in Kenyan HIV-1 infected patients with extensive antiretroviral treatment exposure. PloS one. 2017 Feb 24;12(2):e0172960.
10. Kitawi RC, Nzomo T, Mwatelah RS, Aman R, Kimulwo MJ, Masankwa G, Lwembe RM, Okendo J, Ogutu B, Ochieng W. HIV-1 subtype diversity based on envelope C2V3 sequences from Kenyan patients on highly active antiretroviral therapy. AIDS research and human retroviruses. 2015 Apr 1;31(4):452-5.
11. Nzomo TJ, Kitawi RC, Mwatelah RS, Aman R, Kimulwo MJ, Masankwa G, Okendo J, Lwembe RM, Ogutu B, Muigai A, Ochieng W. Genotypic variability of HIV-1 Reverse Transcriptase gene from long-term antiretroviral-experienced patients in Kenya. AIDS research and human retroviruses. 2015 May 1;31(5):550-3.
12. HADEBE S, Savulescu AF, Khumalo J, Jones K, Mangali S, Mthembu N, Ngomti A, Scibiorek M, Okendo J, Brombacher F. IgM regulates airway hyperresponsiveness via modulation of actin associated genes.
13. Sharaf BM, Giddey AD, Al-Hroub HM, Menon V, Okendo J, El-Awady R, Mousa M, Almehdi A, Semreen MH, Soares NC. Mass spectroscopy-based proteomics and metabolomics analysis of triple-positive breast cancer cells treated with tamoxifen and/or trastuzumab. Cancer Chemother Pharmacol. 2022 Oct 20. doi: 10.1007/s00280-022-04478-4. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 36264351.