Charles N. Rotimi

Charles Rotimi, a genetic epidemiologist, is a Distinguished Investigator at the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Director of the Trans-NIH Center for Research on Genomics and Global Health. He is a leader in exploring the implications of the increased genetic diversity in African ancestry populations for disease gene mapping. Rotimi is especially proud of his efforts at globalizing genomics. His engagement of African communities in genomic projects has had transformative impact. Rotimi was the founding president of the now thriving African Society of Human Genetics, and spearheaded formation of the Human Heredity and Health in Africa (H3Africa) Initiative with over 176 million US dollars funding from NIH and Wellcome Trust. Rotimi was recognized as an “African Innovator” by Quart Africa and elected to three global academies – the US National Academy of Medicine, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the African Academy of Sciences. He is 2020 president-elect for the American Society of Human Genetics. He is an internationally recognized scholar with research accomplishments profiled in leading international scientific journals and news media including New-England-Journal of Medicine, Science, Nature, Lancet, Newsweek, NY Times, and BBC