Raissa Muvunyi is a Biologist and Bioinformatician with deep interest in solving health care challenges. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Biology at Mercyhurst University (USA) and her Master of Science in Applied Bioinformatics at Cranfield University (UK). 

Her academic career focused primarily in areas of forensics DNA, genetics, genomics, proteomics and metabolomics. Her thesis work was focused on developing a signalling pathway analysis pipeline using RNA-Seq to provide molecular understanding of Ethylene Response during the storage of onions. She was a member of the team that developed a genome browser with integrated customizable functionalities including a visualization tool to interpret genomics data.

In terms of professional experience, Raissa has served as a Bioinformatics Specialist at the National Council for Science and Technology (NCST) for a period of two years. During that time, Raissa developed grant proposals and grant schemes, served twice as a panel reviewer on the “COVID-19” grant schemes organized by the National Research Fund (NRF, South Africa), was an integral member of the National Research Innovation Fund (NRIF) grant cycle management team, and served on the research permit review committee.

During the relatively short period at NCST, her contributions enabled her to take on other bigger responsibilities, where she has served on the Rwandan COVID-19 Task Force, and as an administrative coordinator for an NIH multiple-country Consortium Grant Opportunity. She is currently involved in a large-scale project LAISDAR (“Leveraging Artificial Intelligence and Data Science Techniques in Harmonizing, Accessing and Analysing SARS-COV-2 /COVID-19 Data in Rwanda”) as an investigator.

She is interested in applying her Bioinformatics skills to inform and unlock the genetic components of diseases and paying close attention to non-communicable diseases (NCD’s). She wishes to strengthen health systems through this application of research which potentially can lead to achieve preventive medicine, precision medicine, and drug discovery.