Black Excellence: Christian Happi
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Happi
Christian Happi is a Distinguished Professor of Molecular Biology and Genomics in the Department of Biological Sciences and the Director of the Institute of Genomics and Global Health[1] (formerly African Centre of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases),[2][3] both at Redeemer’s University. He is known for leading the team of scientists that used genomic sequencing to identify a single point of infection from an animal reservoir to a human in the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.[4] His research focus is on infectious diseases, including malaria, Lassa fever, Ebola virus disease, HIV, and SARS-CoV-2. Christian Happi has been described as a force of nature in TIME’s 100 Most Influential People of 2025.[5]
Sentinel, an infectious disease and pandemic detection, warning, and prevention program, has won the MacArthur Foundation’s 100&Change competition. The $100 million prize will enable Sentinel to fortify its training and approach within Nigeria and Sierra Leone and expand to other countries in Africa.
The initiative is co-led by Pardis Sabeti at the Broad Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Christian Happi at the Institute of Genomics and Global Health at Redeemer’s University in Nigeria (formerly ACEGID).