Paul G. Kioy

It is with great sadness that we report that Professor Paul Gighuri Kioy passed away with complications of COVID-19 on 7th January 2021. Professor Kioy made significant contributions to the study of epilepsy and epilepsy care in Kenya and sub-Saharan Africa.

Paul Kioy graduated with MBChB from the University of Nairobi in 1977, after which he joined the department of Medical Physiology at the same university where he developed an interest in neurophysiology. In 1982, he completed a MSc in Nuclear Medicine in London, returning the follow year, to enrol in a MMed in Internal Medicine. He became in charge of the Neurophysiology department at the Kenyatta Hospital, trained as a neurologist at the same hospital, including spending a year in the Department of Neurophysiology at the Institute of Neurosciences, Glasgow, United Kingdom. He returned to Nairobi in 1989 as a consultant neurologist at Kenyatta Hospital and Senior Lecturer at the University of Nairobi. In 2000 he became chairman of the Department of Neurophysiology at the University of Nairobi, where he had a long career as an inspirational teacher.

Professor Kioy will be remembered for his extensive contributions to neurophysiology and epilepsy in Kenya and Africa. He was a founding member of the Kenyan Society of Epilepsy, representing Kenya at the ILAE meetings and was instrumental in supporting the establishment of the African Commission. He was involved in producing the 1st Edition of the Kenya Epilepsy Guidelines and organising the 1st African Epilepsy Congress in Nairobi (2012) with the Kenya Association for the Welfare of People with Epilepsy (KAWE). He was the first chairperson of the National Epilepsy Co-ordinating Committee, organising numerous Continuing Medical Education programmes for physicians, and other health care professionals in Kenya. He was involved in setting up the first training course of EEG technicians in Kenya. In addition, he was a founding member and Treasurer of the Society of Neuroscientists in Africa (SONA), and made significant contributions to Kenya Society of Neuroscientists, Kenya Physiological Society, Kenya Neurological Society and Kenya Association of Physicians. He was a member of International Association for the Study of Pain and International Brain Research Organization.

We have prematurely lost an esteemed and inspirational colleague who has made immense contributions to the care of people with epilepsy, and the education of medical students, doctors and other health care professionals in Africa. We pass our sincere condolences to his wife Dr Deborah Guchu, and their three children.

Osman Miyanji and Charles Newton