Isaiah Omondi is a master’s student in the Department of Geography and Environmental Management at the University of Waterloo. He holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mathematics and Statistics from Maseno University in Kenya. Before joining University of Waterloo in the fall of 2024, he worked as a Statistician in Kenya Medical Research Institute and Wellcome Trust Research Programme in Kenya from 2016 until August 2024. His training and experience have exposed him to variety of ways in which data from diverse study designs can be analyzed to reduce type I and type II errors. In the process, he gained skills in database design, fieldwork coordination, sample size and power calculations and a wide range of statistical analysis in social science as well as epidemiology. Isaiah’s passion relates to how appropriate data analysis techniques can be implemented to ensure correct inferences are drawn to inform policy. He is also interested in how high ethical and moral standards can be maintained in research studies from design to the reporting of findings. Being part of GoHelp lab has given him a unique opportunity to learn how knowledge can be co-produced as well as how research findings can be interpreted in the light of space and place. For his master’s project, he aims to explore how repeated cross-sectional studies can be linked using propensity score matching in order to minimize selection bias. In doing so, he intends to investigate the post pandemic health and wellbeing of women post COVID-19 relative to during the pandemic in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Why GoHelP?
"Being part of the GoHelp community has opened my understanding of how place and space affect health and wellbeing. I also appreciate how much can be accomplished by combining qualitative and quantitative analysis techniques to draw insight from data."
Research Interests
- Health and Wellbeing
- Statistical concepts in social sciences
Publications
- Omondi, I., Odiere, M. R., Rawago, F., Mwinzi, P. N., Campbell, C., & Musuva, R. (2021). Socioeconomic determinants of Schistosoma mansoni infection using multiple correspondence analysis among rural western Kenyan communities: Evidence from a household-based study. Plos one, 16(6), e0253041.
- Musuva, R. M., Odiere, M. R., Mwinzi, P. N., Omondi, I. O., Rawago, F. O., Matendechero, S. H., ... & Colley, D. G. (2021). Unprotected water sources and low latrine coverage are contributing factors to persistent hotspots for schistosomiasis in western Kenya. Plos one, 16(9), e0253115.
- Okumu, A., Orwa, J., Sitati, R., Omondi, I., Odhiambo, B., Ogoro, J., ... & Ouma, C. (2024). Factors associated with tuberculosis drug resistance among presumptive multidrug resistance tuberculosis patients identified in a DRTB surveillance study in western Kenya. Journal of clinical tuberculosis and other mycobacterial diseases, 37, 100466.
- Odongo, T., Omondi, I., Wanjiku, C., Okoko, M., Kiuru, C., Kariuki, M., ... & Maia, M. F. (2025). Toxicity of ivermectin to bed bugs (Cimex hemipterus) and risk factors associated with infestation in Kwale County, coastal Kenya. Parasites & Vectors, 18(1), 269.
- Chaccour, C., Maia, M., Kariuki, M., Ruiz-Castillo, P., Wanjiku, C., Kasiwa, L., ... & Rabinovich, N. R. (2025). Ivermectin to control malaria—a cluster-randomized trial. New England Journal of Medicine, 393(4), 362-375.
- Nunbogu, A. M., Kuusaana, E. D., Omondi, I., Bisung, E., & Elliott, S. J. (2025). Invisible vulnerability: WASH insecurity of older adults in Ghana during a global public emergency. Journal of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for Development, 15(10), 832-846.
- Musah, C. I., Elliott, S. J., Omondi, I., Bisung, E., Dickin, S., & Rishworth, A. (2025). Intersecting vulnerabilities: Health and wellbeing of older adults in Uganda during a global health crisis. Wellbeing, Space and Society, 8, 100243.
Awards
- International Master’s Award of Excellence (IMAE) 2024