Mercy Cheptoo is a Medical Epidemiologist at the Ministry of Health, Kenya, with over five years of experience in public health surveillance, outbreak response, and applied epidemiological research. She holds a background in medical microbiology and is a graduate of the Kenya-FELTP. Her expertise spans both field and laboratory-based investigations, having led or supported outbreak responses for COVID-19, cholera, anthrax, and Mpox.
Currently, through the Kenya National Public Health Institute (KNPHI), Mercy leads a national mortality surveillance initiative aimed at strengthening the collection and analysis of mortality data for improved public health action. Her work centers on enhancing public health intelligence using integrated surveillance systems, weekly epidemiological bulletins, and outbreak analytics.
She has worked with multidisciplinary teams and partners—including the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and local academic institutions—to build advanced data analysis capacity and co-develop predictive tools for epidemic preparedness and response. Mercy regularly uses tools such as KHIS2, R, Power BI, and GIS for surveillance data visualization, trend analysis, and forecasting.
The Epiverse Fellowship aligns with and enhances this ongoing work, providing a platform to deepen her skills in open-source, reproducible analytics while contributing to Africa’s broader public health data ecosystem. She is passionate about translating data into actionable insights and advancing evidence-based decision-making across the continent.