Dr. John Otokoye Otshudiema, MD, MPH, is a distinguished medical epidemiologist and public health professional with over 20 years of experience in global health security. A graduate of the University of Kinshasa and the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (U.S. CDC) prestigious Epidemic Intelligence Service, he currently serves as a Health Emergency Officer at the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Africa. He holds multiple critical positions, including WHO African Region (AFRO) Dengue Incident Manager, Deputy Incident Manager for both Mpox and Diphtheria, and serves as one of the WHO AFRO climate change and health focal points.
His extensive field experience includes coordinating responses to major disease outbreaks around the world with WHO, U.S. CDC, FHI 360, and USAID, notably in Guinea, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Cameroon, Burundi, Chad, and Yemen. Dr. Otshudiema has received numerous awards, including the Knight of the USAID Okapi's Order and multiple U.S. CDC Honor Awards for his leadership in responding to Ebola and yellow fever outbreaks. His research portfolio includes over 20 peer-reviewed publications in journals such as JAMA Pediatrics and The Lancet Global Health. Fluent in French and English, he maintains an active role as a researcher at the Kinshasa School of Public Health while managing public health emergencies across 47 African countries in the WHO African Region.
