Photo : IAEA Imagebank, CC BY 2.0
Christian Happi
Outbreak geneticist whose team sequenced Africa's first SARS-CoV-2 genome
Born in 1968-06-01
Who are they?
Christian Happi was born on 1 June 1968 in Sangmélima, to a family from western Cameroon. After a degree in biochemistry from the University of Yaoundé, he earned his PhD at the University of Ibadan in 2000 and then spent several years at Harvard. In 2011 he moved to Redeemer's University in Ede, Nigeria, where he is a professor of molecular biology and genomics.
What made them famous
At Redeemer's he founded the African Centre of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases (ACEGID). During the 2014 Ebola outbreak his laboratory confirmed Nigeria's first case within hours, and in 2020 his team sequenced Africa's first SARS-CoV-2 genome. TIME named him one of the 100 most influential people of 2025, in its Innovators category.
Key facts
- In 2008 he had a Lassa fever testing laboratory built in Irrua, Nigeria.
- In 2015 his team discovered two new viruses, named Ekpoma, using metagenomics.
- With Harvard's Pardis Sabeti he co-directs SENTINEL, an outbreak early-warning project for West Africa.