Steven Runo

Steven Runo is an Associate Professor of Molecular Biology at Kenyatta University. He obtained his first degree in Biochemistry in 1998 at Kenyatta University. He then did a Master's degree in Biotechnology at the same University in 2003. Upon completion, he obtained a PhD fellowship from the Rockefeller Foundation to study Biotechnology in a Sandwich programme between Kenyatta University and the University of California Davis. His PhD was obtained in 2008.

He took up a faculty position at Kenyatta University in 2009 as a Lecturer then proceeded to the University of Sheffield as a visiting scientist. In 2013 he won a Fellowship from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for another visiting scientist position at the University of Virginia.

Steven has had long-standing research in the application of advances in plant sciences for crop improvement. Currently, his group is using gene-editing to impart resistance against parasitic weeds. He has received numerous prizes and awards for his scientific achievements. Notably, he received the Royal Society Africa Prize in 2020.