Dr. Evans Raballah

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Dr. Evans Raballah

rabalaContact details

Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences

School of Public Health, Biomedical Sciences and Technology (MMUST)

P.O. Box 190-50100

Kakamega, KENYA

Office no. ABA 1st Floor Room 101

Kakamega-Webuye Road

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3304-6836

Web of Science ResearcherID: AAJ-6604-2021

Google Scholar: mQAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao

PUbmed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=Raballah+E

Researchgate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Evans-Raballah.

 DOIM University of New Mexico talk: https://unmhsc.mediasite.com/Mediasite/Channel/mediasiteadmin-im-grand-rounds/watch/b26936142d4f447e83926581998cb19c1d.

 Dr. Evans Raballah

Dr. Raballah is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences. He holds a doctorate degree in Immunology, specializing in Immunogenetics of infectious diseases. His academic and research interests are in the fields of malaria, bacteremia, HIV and COVID-19. His major scholarly contribution was defining the CD4+ cells and their intracellular IFN-g and IL-17 cytokines in severe malarial anemia in a pediatric population of western Kenya. He has further published over 25 manuscripts in peer reviewed refereed journals. In 2009, he was a travel award winner for the annual meeting of American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH). In addition, in 2016 he received the Junior Researcher of the year award of Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology. In 2018, he was awarded Multilateral initiative on Malaria (MIM) travel award to attend the conference in Dakar, Senegal. In 2018, he was also awarded the coveted Fogarty Global Health Fellow; [Havard University, Boston University, Northwestern University and University of New Mexico Consortium (HBNU)] Consortium.   He currently serves as the Co-ordinator of Medical Biotechnology program in the department of Medical Laboratory sciences and a member of the departmental postgraduate committee.

Research Grants.

  1. Grant on Cyber Biosecurity

Some of his key published works include: -

  1. Perez K Olewe, Shehu Shagari Awandu, Elly O Munde, Samuel B Anyona, Evans Raballah, Asito S Amolo, Sidney Ogola, Erick Ndenga, Clinton O Onyango, Rosemary Rochford, Douglas J Perkins, Collins Ouma. Hemoglobinopathies, merozoite surface protein-2 gene polymorphisms, and acquisition of Epstein Barr virus among infants in Western Kenya Published on 20 June 2023 in BMC Cancer. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12885-023-11063-2
  2. Evans Raballah, Kristen Wilding, Samuel B. Anyona1, Elly O. Munde1, Ivy Hurwitz, Clinton O. Onyango, Cyrus Ayieko, Christophe G. Lambert, Kristan A. Schneider, Philip D. Seidenberg, Collins Ouma, Benjamin H. McMahon, Qiuying Cheng and Douglas J. Perkins. Nonsynonymous amino acid changes in the α-chain of complement component 5 influence longitudinal susceptibility to Plasmodium falciparum infections and severe malarial anemia in kenyan children.Published 14 September 2022. Frontier in genetics. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fgene.2022.977810
  3. Lily E. Kisia1,, Qiuying Cheng, Evans Raballah, Elly O. Munde, Benjamin H. McMahon, Nick W. Hengartner, John M. Ong’echa, Kiprotich Chelimo, Christophe G. Lambert, Collins Ouma, Prakasha Kempaiah, Douglas J. Perkins, Kristan A. Schneider and Samuel B. Anyona. Genetic variation in CSF2 (5q31.1) is associated with longitudinal susceptibility to pediatric malaria, severe malarial anemia, and all‑cause mortality in a high‑burden malaria and HIV region of Kenya. Tropical Medicine and Health (2022) 50:41. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s41182-022-00432-5
  4. Samuel B.Anyona, Qiuying Cheng,Evans Raballah, Ivy Hurwitz, Christophe G.Lambert, Benjamin H.McMahon, CollinsOuma , Douglas J.Perkins. Ingestion of hemozoin by peripheral blood mononuclear cells alters temporal gene expression of ubiquitination processes. Published in Biochemistry and Biophysics Reports Available online 11 January 2022. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbrep.2022.101207.
  5. Evans Raballah, Samuel B Anyona, Qiuying Cheng, Elly O Munde, Ivy-Foo Hurwitz, Clinton Onyango, Caroline Ndege, Nicolas W Hengartner, Maria Andreína Pacheco, Ananias A Escalante, Christophe G Lambert, Collins Ouma, Henri C Jr T Obama, Kristan A Scheider, Philip D Seidenberg, Benjamin H McMahon, Douglas J Perkins. Complement component 3 mutations alter the longitudinal risk of pediatric malaria and severe malarial anemia.Experimental Biology and Medicine. published on November 29, 2021. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/15353702211056272.
  6. Samuel B. Anyona, Evans Raballah, Qiuying Cheng, Ivy Hurwitz, Caroline Ndege, Elly Munde, Walter Otieno, Philip D. Seidenberg, Kristan A. Schneider, Christophe G. Lambert, Benjamin H. McMahon, Collins Ouma, and Douglas J. Perkins. Differential Gene Expression in Host Ubiquitination Processes in Childhood Malarial Anemia. Publisher; Human and Medical Genomics,Human and Medical Genomics,a section of the journalFrontiers in Genetics. published in 22 November 2021. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fgene.2021.764759.
  7. Jessica Z. Kubicek-Sutherland, Gary Xie, Migun Shakya, Priya K. Dighe, Lindsey L. Jacobs, Hajnalka Daligault, Karen Davenport, Loreen R. Stromberg, Zachary R. Stromberg, Qiuying Cheng, Prakasha Kempaiah, John Michael Ong’echa, Vincent Otieno, Evans Raballah, Samuel Anyona, Collins Ouma, Patrick S. G. Chain, Douglas J. Perkins, Harshini Mukundan, Benjamin H. McMahon, Norman A. Doggett.Comparative genomic and phenotypic characterization of invasive non-typhoidal Salmonella isolates from Siaya, Kenya. Published: February 1, 2021. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0008991.
  8. Samuel B. Anyona, Nicolas W. Hengartner, Evans Raballah, John Michael Ong’echa, Nick Lauve, Qiuying Cheng, Paul W. Fenimore, Collins Ouma, Christophe G. Lambert, Benjamin H. McMahon, Douglas J. Perkins. (2021). Cyclooxygenase-2 haplotypes influence the longitudinal risk of malaria and severe malarial anemia in Kenyan children from a holoendemic transmission region. J Hum Genet. 65(2):99-113 .DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s10038-019-0692-31.
  9. Andreína Pacheco, Kristan A. Schneider, Qiuying Cheng, Elly O. Munde, Caroline Ndege, Clinton Onyango, Evans Raballah, Samuel B. Anyona, Collins Ouma, Douglas J. Perkins, Ananias A. Escalante (2020). Changes in the frequencies of Plasmodium falciparum dhps and dhfr drug-resistant mutations in children from Western Kenya from 2005 to 2018: the rise of Pfdhps S436H. Malar J. 19:378. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12936-020-03454-8
  10. Evans Raballah, Prakasha Kempaiah, Zachary Karim, George O. Orinda, Michael F. Otieno, Douglas J. Perkins, John Michael Ong’echa (2017). CD4 T-cell expression of IFN-γ and IL-17 in pediatric malarial anemia. PLoS One. 12(4): e0175864 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0175864.
  11. Achieng AO, Hengartner NW, Raballah E, Cheng Q, Anyona SB, Lauve N, Guyah B, Foo-Hurwitz I, Ong'echa JM, McMahon BH, Ouma C, Lambert CG, Perkins DJ. Integrated OMICS platforms identify LAIR1 genetic variants as novel predictors of cross-sectional and longitudinal susceptibility to severe malaria and all-cause mortality in Kenyan children. EBioMedicine. 2019 Jul; 45:290-302. Epub 2019 Jul 2. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ebiom.2019.06.043.
  12. Kisia LE, Kempaiah P, Anyona SB, Munde EO, Achieng AO, Ong'echa JM, Lambert CG, Chelimo K, Ouma C, Perkins DJ, Raballah E. Genetic variation in interleukin-7 is associated with a reduced erythropoietic response in Kenyan children infected with Plasmodium falciparum. BMC Med Genet. 2019 Aug 16; 20 (1):140.DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12881-019-0866-z.
  13. Xie G, Cheng Q, Daligault H, Davenport K, Gleasner C, Jacobs L, Kubicek-Sutherland J, LeCuyer T, Otieno V, Raballah E, Mukundan H, Perkins DJ, McMahon B, Doggett N. Genome Sequences of a Staphylococcus aureus Clinical Isolate, Strain SMA0034-04 (UGA22), from Siaya County Referral Hospital in Siaya, Kenya. Microbiol Resour Announc. 2019 Apr 25;8(17). pii: e01627-18. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1128/MRA.01627-18
  14. Otieno V, Xie G, Cheng Q, Daligault H, Davenport K, Gleasner C, Jacobs L, Kubicek-Sutherland J, LeCuyer T, Raballah E, Doggett N, Mukundan H, McMahon B, Perkins DJ.Genome Sequence of Staphylococcus pettenkoferi Strain SMA0010-04 (UGA20), a Clinical Isolate from Siaya County Referral Hospital in Siaya, Kenya. Microbiol Resour Announc. 2019 Apr 25;8(17). pii: e01626-18. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1128/MRA.01626-18 
  15. Cheng Q, Xie G, Daligault H, Davenport K, Gleasner C, Jacobs L, Kubicek-Sutherland J, LeCuyer T, Otieno V, Raballah E, Doggett N, McMahon B, Perkins DJ, Mukundan H. Genome Sequence of a Staphylococcus xylosus Clinical Isolate, Strain SMA0341-04 (UGA5), from Siaya County Referral Hospital in Siaya, Kenya. Microbiol Resour Announc. 2019 Apr 18;8(16). pii: e01625-18. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1128/MRA.01625-18.
  16. Kubicek-Sutherland JZ, Vu DM, Noormohamed A, Mendez HM, Stromberg LR, Pedersen CA, Hengartner AC, Klosterman KE, Bridgewater HA, Otieno V, Cheng Q, Anyona SB, Ouma C, Raballah E, Perkins DJ, McMahon BH, Mukundan H. Direct detection of bacteremia by exploiting host-pathogen interactions of lipoteichoic acid and lipopolysaccharide. Sci Rep. 2019 Apr 17;9(1):6203. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-42502-5
  17. Xie G, Cheng Q, Daligault H, Davenport K, Gleasner C, Jacobs L, Kubicek-Sutherland J, LeCuyer T, Otieno V, Raballah E, Doggett N, Mukundan H, Perkins DJ, McMahon B. Draft Genome Sequences of Two Staphylococcus warneri Clinical Isolates, Strains SMA0023-04 (UGA3) and SMA0670-05 (UGA28), from Siaya County Referral Hospital, Siaya, Kenya. Microbiol Resour Announc. 2019 Apr 11;8(15). pii: e01595-18. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1128/MRA.01595-18.
  18. Kisuya J, Chemtai A, Raballah E, Keter A, Ouma C. The diagnostic accuracy of Th1 (IFN-γ, TNF-α, and IL-2) and Th2 (IL-4, IL-6 and IL-10) cytokines response in AFB microscopy smearKisuya J, Chemtai A, Raballah E, Keter A, Ouma C. The diagnostic accuracy of Th1 (IFN-γ, TNF-α, and IL-2) and Th2 (IL-4, IL-6 and IL-10) cytokines response in AFB microscopy smear5negative PTB- HIV co-infected patients. Sci Rep. 2019 Feb 27;9(1):2966. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-39048-x.
  19. Kisuya J, Chemtai A, Raballah E, Okumu W, Keter A, Ouma C.The role of Mycobacterium tuberculosis antigen specific cytokines in determination of acid fast bacilli culture status in pulmonary tuberculosis patients co-infected with human immunodeficiency virus. Pan Afr Med J. 2018 Nov 8;31:166. . eCollection 2018. DOI:https://doi.org/10.11604/pamj.2018.31.166.17294.
  20. Musumba CO, Kosiyo PM, Mutinda K and Rabala E. Evaluation of Vaginal cytology through clue cell detection and Nugent’s score in the laboratory diagnosis of Bacterial Vaginosis in women of reproductive age. Journal of Medical Science and Clinical Research. January 2018. 6 (1) 32068  DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.18535/jmscr/v6i1.108.
  21. Elly O. Munde, Winnie A. Okeyo, Evans Raballah, Samuel B. Anyona, Tom Were, John M. Ong’echa, Douglas J. Perkins and Collins Ouma. Association between Fcγ receptor IIA, IIIA and IIIB genetic polymorphisms and susceptibility to severe malaria anemia in children in western Kenya. BMC Infectious Diseases (2017) 17:289 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12879-017-2390-0.
  22. Elly O. Munde, Evans Raballah, Winnie A. Okeyo, John M. Ong’echa, Douglas J. Perkins and Collins Ouma. Haplotype of non-synonymous mutations within IL-23R is associated with susceptibility to severe malaria anemia in a P. falciparum holoendemic transmission area of Kenya. BMC Infectious Diseases (2017) 17:291 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12879-017-2404-y
  23. Kempaiah P, Dokladny K, Karim Z, Raballah E, Ong'echa JM, Moseley PL, and Perkins DJ. Reduced Hsp70 and Glutamine in Pediatric Severe Malaria Anemia: Role of Hemozoin in Suppressing Hsp70 and NF-κB activation. Mol Med. 2016 Aug 30. doi: 10.2119/molmed.2016.00130 DOI: https://doi.org/10.2119/molmed.2016.00130.
  24. Okeyo WA, Munde EO, Okumu W, Raballah E, Anyona SB, Vulule JM, Ong'echa JM, Perkins DJ, Ouma C. Interleukin (IL)-13 promoter polymorphisms (-7402 T/G and -4729G/A) condition susceptibility to pediatric severe malarial anemia but not circulating IL-13 levels. BMC Immunol. 2013 Mar 25;14:15. DOI: https://bmcimmunol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-2172-14-15 .
  25. Munde EO, Okeyo WA, Anyona SB, Raballah E, Konah S, Okumu W, Ogonda L, Vulule J, Ouma C. Polymorphisms in the Fc gamma receptor IIIA and Toll-like receptor 9 are associated with protection against severe malarial anemia and changes in circulating gamma interferon levels. Infect Immun. 2012 Dec; 80 (12):4435-43. Epub 2012 Oct 8. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1128/IAI.00945-12.
  26. M. Andreína Pacheco, Kristan A. Schneider, Qiuying Cheng,  Elly O. Munde,  Caroline Ndege, Clinton Onyango,  Evans Raballah,  Samuel B. Anyona,  Collins Ouma, Douglas J. Perkins & Ananias A. Escalante. Changes in the frequencies of Plasmodium falciparum dhps and dhfr drug-resistant mutations in children from Western Kenya from 2005 to 2018: the rise of Pfdhps S436H Malaria Journal. October 2020. Malaria Journal. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12936-020-03454-8.
  27. Samuel B Anyona , Prakasha Kempaiah, Evans Raballah, Collins Ouma, Tom Were, Gregory C Davenport, Stephen N Konah, John M Vulule, James B Hittner, Charity W Gichuki, John M Ong'echa, Douglas J Perkins. Functional promoter haplotypes of interleukin-18 condition susceptibility to severe malarial anemia and childhood mortality. Infect Immun. 2011 Dec; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1128/IAI.05601-11.
  28. Elizabeth O Onyango , George Ayodo, Carren A Watsierah, Tom Were, Wilson Okumu, Samuel B Anyona, Evans Raballah, John M Okoth, Sussy Gumo, George O Orinda, Collins Ouma. Factors associated with non-adherence to Artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) to malaria in a rural population from holoendemic region of western Kenya. BMC Infect Dis. 2012 Jun 24. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2334-12-143.
  29. Collins Ouma , Gregory C Davenport, Steven Garcia, Prakasha Kempaiah, Ateefa Chaudhary, Tom Were, Samuel B Anyona, Evans Raballah, Stephen N Konah, James B Hittner, John M Vulule, John M Ong'echa, Douglas J Perkins. Functional haplotypes of Fc gamma (Fcγ) receptor (FcγRIIA and FcγRIIIB) predict risk to repeated episodes of severe malarial anemia and mortality in Kenyan children. Hum Genet. 2012 Feb. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00439-011-1076-8.
  30. Prakasha Kempaiah 1, Samuel B Anyona, Evans Raballah, Gregory C Davenport, Tom Were, James B Hittner, John M Ong'echa, Douglas J Perkins. Reduced interferon (IFN)-α conditioned by IFNA2 (-173) and IFNA8 (-884) haplotypes is associated with enhanced susceptibility to severe malarial anemia and longitudinal all-cause mortality. Hum Genet. 2012 Aug. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00439-012-1175-1.
  31. Samuel B Anyona 1, Prakasha Kempaiah, Evans Raballah, Gregory C Davenport, Tom Were, Stephen N Konah, John M Vulule, James B Hittner, Charity W Gichuki, John M Ong'echa, Douglas J Perkins. Reduced systemic bicyclo-prostaglandin-E2 and cyclooxygenase-2 gene expression are associated with inefficient erythropoiesis and enhanced uptake of monocytic hemozoin in children with severe malarial anemia. Am J Hematol. 2012 Aug. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/ajh.23253.
  32. John M Ong'echa , Evans O Raballah, Prakasha M Kempaiah, Samuel B Anyona, Tom Were, Gregory C Davenport, Stephen Konah, John M Vulule, Collins Ouma, James B Hittner, Douglas J Perkins. Polymorphic variability in the 3' untranslated region (UTR) of IL12B is associated with susceptibility to severe anaemia in Kenyan children with acute Plasmodium falciparum malaria. BMC Genet. 2011 Aug 6. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2156-12-69.
  33. Carren A Watsierah, Walter GZO Jura, Evans Raballah, Dan Kaseje, Benard Abong'o & Collins Ouma. Knowledge and behaviour as determinants of anti-malarial drug use in a peri-urban population from malaria holoendemic region of western Kenya. Published: 20 April 2011. Malaria Journal. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/1475-2875-10-99

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