Professor Emile Chimusa PhD
Professor of Bioinformatics & Computational Biology ORCID: 0000-0001-8846-2047 · South Africa
Editorial leadership for Journal of Big Data Research ISSN 2768-0207
Research interests
- Gwas
- Fine-Mapping In Diverse/Admixed Populations Local/Global Ancestry Inference
- Admixture Mapping Pharmacogenetics & Individualized Drug Response Functional/Post-Gwas
- Disease-Risk Prediction Tools Microbiome & Host–Pathogen Genomics Equity-Oriented Data Sharing In Genomics Multi-Omics Integration
- Network Methods
Biography
Dr. Emile R. Chimusa is a professor of bioinformatics and computational population genomics at Northumbria University. He recently joined Northumbria from the University of Cape Town, where he led postgraduate programs in computational health informatics and human/forensic genetics. His research develops statistical and computational methods to analyze large-scale genomic data—genome-wide association, fine-mapping, admixture mapping, and multi-omics integration—with a focus on diverse and admixed populations. Dr. Chimusa has contributed to international consortia and secured competitive funding (UK, South Africa, EU, North America), with cumulative awards reported at over £17.7 million as PI or co-investigator. He also designs open tools for functional genomics, post-GWAS analysis, ancestry inference, and disease-risk prediction, and actively builds training in bioinformatics and omics data science. His recent work spans equity-oriented data sharing, pharmacogenetics in sickle cell disease, fetal haemoglobin modifiers, and hypertension genomics in African ancestries.
Education Details
- PhD: Statistical Genetics and Genetic Epidemiology (University of Cape Town, 2013)
- M.Sc.: (University of Cape Town, 2010)
- B.Sc. (Hons): (University of Cape Town, inferred)
- B.Sc.: (University of Kinshasa, 2005)
Professional Background
- Professor of Bioinformatics & Computational Biology (Current) - Northumbria University, UK.
- Associate Professor (Former) - University of Cape Town (UCT), South Africa.
- Director (Former) - Medical Sciences BSc Honours program in Human Genetics and Forensic Genetics, UCT.
- Postdoctoral Research Fellow (Former) - University of Cape Town.
Current Research Projects
- Pharmacogenetic Modeling: Exploring genetic factors influencing drug response, particularly hydroxyurea in Tanzanian sickle cell disease patients.
- Genomic Risk Assessment: Developing computational methods for disease risk stratification in multi-way admixed populations.
- Multi-omics Disease–Drug Modeling: Utilizing network-based integrative multi-omics approaches to reveal biosignatures and repurpose drugs for diseases like COVID-19.
Academic Profiles of Dr. Chimusa
Selected publications
- A comprehensive survey of models for dissecting local ancestry deconvolution in human genome 2018 cited 34×
- Genome-Wide Association Study of Brain Connectivity Changes for Alzheimer’s Disease 2020 cited 30×
- Hearing Impairment Overview in Africa: the Case of Cameroon 2020 cited 29×
- A broad survey of DNA sequence data simulation tools 2019 cited 25×
- Concordance of genetic variation that increases risk for Tourette Syndrome and that influences its underlying neurocircuitry 2019 cited 25×
- Post genome-wide association analysis: dissecting computational pathway/network-based approaches 2018 cited 22×
Ranked by citation impact (Crossref) where available, newest otherwise · verified via ORCID.
Considering JBR for your work?
This journal is guided by Professor Emile Chimusa (Professor of Bioinformatics & Computational Biology ORCID: 0000-0001-8846-2047) and a peer-review board of practising researchers. Open access, author-retained copyright (CC BY), and a clear editorial process.