Full Description
This book examines the development of medical sciences in postcolonial Kenya, through the adventures and stories of the controversial Kalenjin scientist Davy Kiprotich Koech. As a collaborative life story project, it privileges African voices and retellings, re-centring the voice of African scientists from the peripheries of storytelling about science, global health research collaborations, national politics, international geopolitical alliances, and medical research.
Focusing largely on the development of the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) and its collaborations with the US Centers for Disease Control, the Walter Reed Project, Japan's International Cooperation Agency, the Wellcome Trust, and other international partners, Denielle Elliott and Davy Koech challenge euro-dominant representations of African science and global health in both the contemporary and historical and offer an unconventional account which aims to destabilize colonial and neo-colonial narratives about African science, scientists, and statecraft. The stories force readers to contend with a series of questions including: How do imperial effects shape contemporary medical research and national sovereignty? In which ways do the colonial ghosts of early medical research infuse the struggles of postcolonial scientists to build national scientific projects? How were postcolonial nation-building projects tied up with the dreams and visions of African scientists? And lastly, how might we reimagine African medicine and biosciences?
The monograph will be of interest to students, educators, and scholars working in African Studies, Science and Technology Studies, Postcolonial Studies, Global Health, Cultural Anthropology, and Medical Anthropology.
Contents
List of Illustrations
Preface
The Art of Storytelling / Stories of Science: An introduction
Daudi
Colonial Administration
Soliat Primary School
Growing up During Independence
Hospitalization
Student Life and Education Reforms
Kericho Tea Hotel
On Becoming a Scientist
Siberia
HLA tissue-typing and kidney transplants in Kenya
Science and Technology Amendment Act
Daniel arap Moi
National Politics
The Kenya Medical Research Institute
Japan
Division of Vector Borne Diseases
Wellcome Trust
Walter Reed Project / US Army Research Unit
The US Embassy and the CDC
The KEMRON Trial
Saba Saba and the KEMRON Results
Kinshasa and Racial Politics
A Son's Death
Collaborative agreements and fiscal irregularities
The Accusations
Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission
The Arrest
Corporate executive
Faith
Epilogue by Davy Kiprotich Koech
