Elizabeth Itotia
Kenyan radiopharmacist Dr. Elizabeth Itotia is rewriting the script for cancer care by putting critical isotopes within reach of local clinicians. Valedictorian of the University of Nairobi’s 2017 pharmacy class, she secured an International Atomic Energy Agency scholarship to complete a master’s in Nuclear Pharmacy at South Africa’s Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University, then returned home as Kenya’s first female specialist in the field. At Kenyatta University Teaching, Referral & Research Hospital she now masterminds the preparation of PET and SPECT tracers, slashing patient wait times by producing doses on-site and implementing stringent safety protocols that have become a national benchmark.
Beyond the hot lab, Itotia trains pharmacists and technologists in radiopharmaceutical handling, co-authors research on isotope-based detection of cervical and prostate cancers, and advises the Ministry of Health on regulatory frameworks for nuclear medicine. Her work has already expanded diagnostic capacity to thousands of patients who previously travelled abroad for scans. Next on her agenda: championing a domestic cyclotron, launching a fellowship to seed East Africa’s first cohort of nuclear pharmacists, and piloting theranostic treatments that pair imaging with targeted therapy. Driven by the belief that geography should never dictate survival odds, she is positioning Kenya as a regional hub for precision oncology.