Yvette Bogomba Masese

Yvette is a Kenyan medical doctor and incoming MSc Integrated Immunology student at the University of Oxford. She is an AfOx Mastercard Foundation Scholar, a Somerville Sanctuary Scholar, and a member of Somerville College. Her work focuses on autoimmune diseases affecting women, particularly lupus, and on building research that reflects African populations.

She grew up on a family farm in Kenya’s Rift Valley. In 2007, her family was displaced during Kenya’s post-election violence. Watching her parents rebuild so that she and her siblings could stay in school taught her that education changes lives and led her to medicine.

Yvette graduated in the top 5% of her MBChB class at the University of Nairobi. During clinical training, she cared for women with lupus who reached specialist care only after years of delayed diagnosis, when kidney damage was irreversible. She saw how few rheumatologists Kenya has. Under Dr Eugene Genga’s mentorship, she realised that many clinical questions were also research questions, shaping her commitment to bridging care and discovery.

Beyond medicine, Yvette enjoys mentoring others. She co-founded USMLElite, where she tutors African doctors preparing for international licensing exams. As Community Service Director of the Rotaract Club of Karura, she has led sustainable community health and environmental projects and won the Director of the Year award. She is also a yoga instructor and served as Yoga Chair at the University of Nairobi. She enjoys singing, playing the guitar, swimming, tennis and art.

At Oxford, Yvette looks forward to deepening her understanding of autoimmune diseases and exploring how this knowledge can inform the development of locally producible diagnostic methods and effective therapeutics. Ultimately, she hopes to establish East Africa’s first dedicated autoimmune disease research centre, where African patients shape the science that serves them.