2016
Award
Biosafety Hero Award
International Federation for Biosafety Associations (IFBA)
International recognition for leadership in strengthening biosafety practice and governance.
About
Eighteen years of strategic and technical leadership spanning national, regional and global assignments across Sub-Saharan Africa, Europe, Central and Southern Asia.

Doris Bota, MSc, MA, BSc
Nairobi, KenyaGlobally mobileRemote-capable
Doris Bota is a global health specialist supporting governments to build resilient, equitable health systems at the intersection of health security, governance, and partnerships, with expertise in integrating Infection Prevention and Control, laboratory systems and biosafety, and WASH into sustainable health system reforms.
Across her work with governments, UNICEF, Save the Children, MSH, FHI 360 and other global health partners, Doris has seen what separates a successful project from a lasting health-system function. Her work is grounded in a simple principle: sustainability begins when a priority has an owner inside government, a budget line, an institutional standard, and a reporting and accountability cycle that continues long after external funding ends.
Over eighteen years she has led that translation across Kenya, South Sudan, Ghana, Nigeria, Malawi, and India, and provided regional and global technical assistance across Sub-Saharan Africa, Europe, and Central and Southern Asia. The work has ranged from leading technical assistance to the ministry of health in establishing East Africa’s first structured national biosafety governance system, to supporting the development and implementation of national IPC, biosafety and occupational health and safety policy, guidelines and training curriculums, to the facility-level work of IPC, biosafety, laboratory quality management systems and WASH FIT assessments and improvement planning.
The Integrated Health Systems Transformation Framework™ is the original methodology that came out of that experience — a three-pillar methodology that connects integration, systems strengthening, and policy influence to deliver sustainable, government-led health systems change. The Integration Architecture™ is how it is delivered: as a diagnostic, a time-bound transformation engagement, or embedded advisory support that stays until the institution owns the work.
The IPC/WASH Health Systems Fragmentation Diagnostics is part of The Integrated Health Systems Transformation Framework™. It helps governments, UN agencies, and donor programmes assess the degree to which WASH and infection prevention and control are integrated into the health system, or remain fragmented across donor-driven, siloed programmes. It evaluates ten defined dimensions of WASH, IPC, and health system integration and produces a personalised gap analysis with prioritised recommendations, completed by a user in five to ten minutes.
Doris is also the originator of The WASH and IPC Health Systems Wheel™, which helps embed IPC and WASH health priorities into the governance structures, policies, institutions, financing mechanisms, and accountability systems that endure beyond projects and funding cycles.
From policy to practice. From projects to institutions.
Qualifications and professional credentials
Academic
Hospital Epidemiology and Infection Prevention & Control
2026
Project Planning and Management
Medical Laboratory Sciences
Professional certification
Professional Certification in Biorisk Management and Biosecurity
International Federation for Biosafety Associations (IFBA)

Certification in Water, Sanitation and Hygiene in Health Care Facilities
WASH in HCF
Professional Certification in Project Management
PMD Pro
Recognition and evidence
The method is documented, peer-reviewed where it can be, and independently recognised.
2016
Award
International Federation for Biosafety Associations (IFBA)
International recognition for leadership in strengthening biosafety practice and governance.
2022
Peer-reviewed paper
Applied Biosafety
Evidence on a training model designed to build biosafety capacity within laboratory systems rather than alongside them, and what it took to embed the model in national curricula.
Where the work has been done
Directly implemented programmes in Kenya, South Sudan, Ghana, Nigeria, Malawi, and India, while providing regional and global remote technical assistance across Sub-Saharan Africa, Europe, and Central and Southern Asia through roles with UNICEF, Save the Children, MSH, FHI 360, University of Maryland, Arkangelo Ali Association, and independent consultancy engagements. This includes support to Christian Health Associations across 32 African countries.
Programmes implemented directly
Organisations worked with






Organisations Doris has worked with or through, in staff, secondment and consultancy roles. Their marks are shown to indicate the institutional settings the work has been done in.
Systems transformation in practice
National biosafety governance and laboratory systems strengthening in Kenya, and WASH–IPC integration within USAID MOMENTUM Country and Global Leadership — context, challenge, approach, results, and what each taught about making a technical function last.
“She is one of the most dependable, knowledgeable and forward-thinking IPC specialists I have worked with.”
Dr. Collins Jaguga
Management Sciences for Health · USAID MTaPS, Kenya
Availability
Available for assignments with governments, UN agencies, embassies, development partners, consultancy firms, multilateral development banks, development finance institutions, academia and research institutions, foundations, faith-based and implementing organisations. Registered on UNGM and available for roster, TOR, and RFP processes.
For multidisciplinary or larger-scale assignments, Doris works with a trusted network of specialist associates, bringing together complementary expertise according to the needs of each engagement.
The button opens a prepared email in your mail app. Sent by return, usually within two working days.
The method
The Integrated Health Systems Transformation Framework™
A strategic focus, a transformation outcome, and a strategic enabler — delivered as a diagnostic, a transformation engagement, or embedded advisory support.