Kenya's Top 2% Scientists 2026: Career-Long List

Kenya has 55 scientists on the 2026 career-long Top 2% list, up 7.8% from 51 in 2025. That places Kenya 72nd in the world by number of listed scientists, down 2 places. International Livestock Research Institute Nairobi has the most listed scientists (7), followed by Wellcome Trust Research Laboratories Nairobi (6).

Single Year

+13 (+18.8%) vs 2025

Career Data

+4 (+7.8%) vs 2025

World rank by count

#72

down 2 places vs 2025

Institutes

+3 (+9.7%) vs 2025

Scientists in Kenya on the list, by year

The career-long count has grown 62% since 2020.

Career-long list, change on the previous year

2021+2.9%

2022+0.0%

2023+8.6%

2024+0.0%

2025+34.2%

2026+7.8%

Show the numbers

Year	Single Year	Change	Career Data	Change
2020	34		34
2021	39	+14.7%	35	+2.9%
2022	40	+2.6%	35	+0.0%
2023	52	+30.0%	38	+8.6%
2024	57	+9.6%	38	+0.0%
2025	69	+21.1%	51	+34.2%
2026	82	+18.8%	55	+7.8%

Top 10 institutes in Kenya

By number of listed scientists

Career-long list2026

Show the list

All 55 scientists

Career-long list2026

Showing the 2026 career-long list. Looking for single-year rankings? See the single-year list

Everyone on the list, free to browse.

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Rank in Kenya	World rank	Scientist	Institute	Sub-field	Rank in sub-field
1	9,925	SR Snow, Robert William	Wellcome Trust Research Laboratories Nairobi	Tropical Medicine	Rank 11
2	9,964	TP Thornton, Philip K.	International Livestock Research Institute Nairobi	Agronomy & Agriculture	Rank 37
3	21,596	YT Young, Truman P.	Mpala Research Centre	Ecology	Rank 404
4	28,281	TM Temmerman, Marleen I.L.	The Aga Khan University Kenya	Obstetrics & Reproductive Medicine	Rank 217
5	36,901	QJ Qiu, Jane	Samburu National Park	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 2,601
6	39,977	FD Fawcett, Donald Wayne	International Laboratory for Research on Animal Diseases, Kenya	Neurology & Neurosurgery	Rank 2,776
7	44,930	WD Ward, David	Mpala Research Centre	Ecology	Rank 809
8	60,092	EM English, Michael C.	Wellcome Trust Research Laboratories Nairobi	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 784
9	62,745	AR Adam, Rodney D.	The Aga Khan University Kenya	Microbiology	Rank 1,572
10	69,488	SJ Scott, John Anthony Gerard	Wellcome Trust Research Laboratories Nairobi	Microbiology	Rank 1,723
11	71,029	IA Ismail, Abdelbagi M.	IRRI-ESA	Plant Biology & Botany	Rank 980
12	71,400	WD Western, David J.	African Conservation Centre	Ecology	Rank 1,253
13	74,858	OD Obura, David Obare	Coral Reef Degradation in the Indian Ocean East Africa	Marine Biology & Hydrobiology	Rank 544
14	77,295	ES Ekesi, Sunday	International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology Nairobi	Entomology	Rank 184
15	82,043	KS Kariuki, Samuel M.	Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative	Microbiology	Rank 2,019
16	83,440	ML Mirazón Lahr, Marta	Turkana Basin Institute	Anthropology	Rank 101
17	92,885	VW Van Wijk, M. T.	International Livestock Research Institute Nairobi	Agronomy & Agriculture	Rank 498
18	104,940	PG Palmer, Guy H.	University of Nairobi College of Health Sciences	Microbiology	Rank 2,589
19	122,471	BJ Berkley, James A.	Wellcome Trust Research Laboratories Nairobi	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 1,526
20	135,890	EP Ericksen, Polly J.	International Livestock Research Institute Nairobi	Agronomy & Agriculture	Rank 743
21	137,790	VB Vanlauwe, Bernard	International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA)	Agronomy & Agriculture	Rank 762
22	169,715	MM Mackinnon, Margaret J.	Wellcome Trust Research Laboratories Nairobi	Mycology & Parasitology	Rank 358
23	169,810	DF Davies, F. Glyn	British Overseas Development Administration	Veterinary Sciences	Rank 587
24	174,999	GA Githeko, Andrew Karanja	Kenya Medical Research Institute	Tropical Medicine	Rank 394
25	178,234	NV Nene, Vishvanath M.	International Livestock Research Institute Nairobi	Mycology & Parasitology	Rank 382
26	182,248	SM Saleh, M. N.	Aga Khan University Hospital, Nairobi	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	Rank 6,643
27	182,706	ND Nokes, David James	Kenya Medical Research Institute	Microbiology	Rank 4,356
28	183,490	SM Swift, M. J.	TSBF	Agronomy & Agriculture	Rank 1,068
29	189,559	BJ Bwayo, Job J.	Kenya AIDS Vaccine Initiative (KAVI)	Virology	Rank 1,492
30	196,192	KJ Kirigia, Joses Muthuri	African Sustainable Development Research Consortium (ASDRC)	Tropical Medicine	Rank 444
31	196,877	MA Mukherji, Aditi	CGIAR	Environmental Engineering	Rank 1,063
32	199,950	BP Bejon, Philip A.	Wellcome Trust Research Laboratories Nairobi	Microbiology	Rank 4,737
33	200,627	WP Woomer, Paul L.	ICIPE	Agronomy & Agriculture	Rank 1,177
34	202,552	GM Grell, Martin	Chuka University	Applied Physics	Rank 5,289
35	208,431	NV Nantulya, Vinand M.	Amref Health Africa	Tropical Medicine	Rank 477
36	220,132	KP Kumar, Pushpam	United Nations Environment Programme	Toxicology	Rank 1,049
37	233,682	TL Tripathi, Leena	Nairobi	Plant Biology & Botany	Rank 3,508
38	238,858	NJ Naessens, Jan G.	International Livestock Research Institute Nairobi	Veterinary Sciences	Rank 955
39	243,017	FS Franzel, Steven C.	World Agroforestry Centre	Agronomy & Agriculture	Rank 1,470
40	248,059	UJ Udall, John Nicholas	University of Nairobi	Pediatrics	Rank 1,413
41	258,109	TB Torto, Baldwyn	International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology Nairobi	Entomology	Rank 851
42	262,115	OB Ogutu, Bernhards R.	Strathmore University	Tropical Medicine	Rank 596
43	263,110	KZ Khan, Zeyaur Rahman	International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology Nairobi	Entomology	Rank 871
44	275,456	MD Masiga, Daniel K.	International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology Nairobi	Tropical Medicine	Rank 637
45	293,090	LL Leakey, L. S.B.	National Museums of Kenya	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 3,845
46	317,701	BM Bodunrin, Michael Oluwatosin	African Academy of Sciences	Materials	Rank 5,088
47	326,980	MS Moloo, Shamshudeen K.	International Livestock Research Institute Nairobi	Tropical Medicine	Rank 753
48	331,952	AA Abajobir, Amanuel Alemu	African Population and Health Research Center	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 4,378
49	336,167	RJ Rege, John Edward O.	Institute for People Innovation and Change in Organizations (PICO)	Dairy & Animal Science	Rank 1,248
50	409,253	RH Rahman, Habibur H.	International Livestock Research Institute Nairobi	Dairy & Animal Science	Rank 1,569
51	424,559	AD Amugsi, Dickson Abanimi	African Population and Health Research Center	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 5,671
52	425,443	CD Coyne, Danny L.	International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA)	Zoology	Rank 351
53	459,394	OE Okiro, Emelda Aluoch	Kenya Medical Research Institute	General & Internal Medicine	Rank 6,131
54	514,182	CE Chitando, Ezra	Faith to Action Network	Religions & Theology	Rank 233
55	704,569	MA Makanya, A. N.	University of Nairobi	Anatomy & Morphology	Rank 211
No scientists match this filter on the career-long list. Try the single-year list

Showing 1 to 55 of 55 Show

Countries with a similar count

Career-long list2026

Lithuania65 scientists

Morocco63 scientists

Puerto Rico56 scientists

Tunisia52 scientists

Philippines51 scientists

Liberia48 scientists

Explore other countries

Career-long list2026

Ethiopia32 scientists

Zimbabwe22 scientists

South Africa963 scientists

Egypt676 scientists

Nigeria164 scientists

Algeria45 scientists

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Frequently asked questions

How many scientists from Kenya are in the 2026 Stanford Top 2% list?

82 scientists affiliated with Kenya are on the 2026 single-year list, and 55 are on the career-long list.

Which institute in Kenya has the most Top 2% scientists?

On the 2026 career-long list, International Livestock Research Institute Nairobi has the most listed scientists from Kenya, with 7. It is followed by Wellcome Trust Research Laboratories Nairobi with 6.

How has the number of Top 2% scientists in Kenya changed since 2020?

On the career-long list, Kenya went from 34 scientists in 2020 to 55 in 2026, a change of +61.8%.

What is the difference between the single-year and career-long lists?

The single-year list ranks scientists on the citations their work received in one year. The career-long list ranks them on citations across their whole career. Both lists are published every year, and a scientist can be on one, both or neither.

What is the official source of this data?

The rankings come from the science-wide author databases of standardized citation indicators published by Ioannidis et al. in the Elsevier Data Repository, updated every year. TOPSCINET, an independent platform, organises that data by country, year, institute and field, so you can compare and explore it.