About Me

I am a genomics or bioinformatics data scientist currently working at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Nairobi. The research I am engaged in seeks to unravel deeper scientific understanding of pathogens, their hosts and habitats through bioinformatics and computational analysis of biological and genomic data. I also promote open, reproducible scientific research. Technically speaking, I work in a genomics lab to test, sequence and analyse microbial, animal and environmental samples.

I have been privileged to work on viral (SARS-CoV-2, MERS, Influenza A, Hepatitis E) and bacterial WGS, wastewater (shotgun metagenomic) and 10X single-cell NGS data.

Beyond science, I am a humanist who lives by these values: Respectful, Responsible and Responsive.

My Area of Expertise.

Data management:

✔ Data Collection: Gathering raw data from various sources (e.g., clinical studies, experiments, surveys).
✔ Data Storage: Securely storing data in structured databases, cloud storage, or high-performance computing environments.
✔ Data Cleaning: Removing errors, duplicates, and inconsistencies to ensure data quality.
✔ Data Standardization: Formatting data consistently using recognized standards (e.g., ISO 8601 for dates, MIxS for metadata).
✔ Data Security & Privacy: Implementing protection measures (encryption, access control) to safeguard sensitive data.
✔ Data Sharing & Accessibility: Ensuring data is FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) to facilitate collaboration.
✔ Data Archiving: Long-term storage and preservation of datasets for future reference or regulatory requirements.

Bioinformatics Pipeline-Development and Genomics Analysis:

I develop and maintain fast, scalable and reproducible bioinformatics pipelines for short and long-read sequence data based on Linux, git & GitHub and workflow management engines (Nextflow).

✔ Recent Projects I have worked on:

-Wastewater Shotgun metagenomics for Pathogen and AMR Surveillance
-Whole Genome Sequencing, assembly, variant calling and annotation
-10X Single-cell analysis
-Phylogenomics and phylogeography of Vectors and Pests

Besides Data Management and Analysis, I have experience with:
✔ High-Performance Computing based on own or open source tools and job-schedulers (SLURM);
✔ Statistical analysis (R/Python) and generating publication-ready figures: graphs, trees, networks.
✔ Sequencers I work with: Illumina MiSeq, NextSeq550 and 2000 and ONT.

Away from day-to-day research, I train and mentor early‑career bioinformaticians in reproducible analysis and FAIR data stewardship.

My GitHub account: kibet-gilbert.

news

Jun 25, 2025	Website Launched
Jan 15, 2016	A simple inline announcement with Markdown emoji!
Nov 07, 2015	A long announcement with details
Oct 22, 2015	A simple inline announcement.

latest posts

Mar 26, 2025	a post with plotly.js
Dec 04, 2024	a post with image galleries
May 01, 2024	a post with tabs

selected publications

Wastewater Genomic Epidemiology Reveals Socioeconomic Patterns of Pathogen Diversity and Antimicrobial Resistance in Nairobi, Kenya

Benard Mware, Gilbert Kibet, Kennedy Mwangi, and 8 more authors

2025
Imported SARS-COV-2 variants of concern drove spread of infections across Kenya during the second year of the pandemic

Carolyne Nasimiyu, Damaris Matoke-Muhia, Gilbert K Rono, and 8 more authors

Covid, 2022