Dr. George Njoroge appointed as Chairman of Daystar University Council

The Daystar Company Limited, the Sponsor of Daystar University, has appointed Dr. George Njoroge as the next Chairman of the Daystar University Council for a renewable term of three years.  His appointment takes effect on 1st July 2022 and will last until 30th June 2025.

In a letter dated 14th March 2022, Chairman of the Daystar Company Board of Trustees Rev. Dr. Matthews Mwalw’a appointed Dr. Njoroge following a meeting of Daystar Company Limited on 7th March 2022.  He takes over from Prof. Henry Thairu who has been chair since 2018.

Dr. George Njoroge is the Founder and Chairman of Centre of Africa’s Life Sciences (C.O.A.L.S.), a premier institution that is being established in Naivasha, Kenya, with the primary goal of searching and developing novel medicines in the continent of Africa.

Previously he was a Senior Research Fellow at Eli Lilly and Company and a former a Director in the Department of Medicinal Chemistry at Merck Research Laboratories where he oversaw chemistry program in infectious diseases platform.

Through his research leadership at Merck Research Laboratories, an anti-HCV viral drug Victrelis™ (also known as Boceprevir or SCH 503034) was discovered – this medicine was approved by FDA on 13th, May 2011 as the first-in-class therapy for HepC treatment. Dr. Njoroge led his Chemistry in the discovery of the second-generation HCV protease inhibitor Narlaprevir® that has completed Phase IIb clinical trials and is currently marketed in Russia as Arlansa. He has also worked extensively in the oncology area, especially in the discovery of therapeutic agents geared towards intervention of signal transduction process in proliferating cells.  This work led to the discovery of Sarasar®, a farnesyl transferase inhibitor that has been approved for treatment of Progeria – a life threatening disease that causes accelerated aging in children.

A first-class honours graduate of the University of Nairobi, George completed his PhD in organic Chemistry at Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio in 1985, and joined Schering Plough Research Institute (SPRI) in 1988.

Dr. Njoroge has published extensively in professional journals on synthetic organic chemistry and drug design. He is an author or co-author of 134 scientific publications and 104 USA granted patents. Dr. Njoroge was inducted into the “Hall of Fame” as the latest Hero of Chemistry by the American Chemical Society (ACS) at a ceremony held in Philadelphia on 19th August 2012. He is a recipient of numerous awards, including Emerald Award for Professional Achievement in Industry and Thomas Alva Edison Patent Award for emerging therapies.

In the summer of 2014, Dr. Njoroge was conferred with an Honorary Degree of Pharmaceutical Science by Mount Kenya University. On 14th July 2018, Dr. Njoroge was honoured with Pioneer Award for Impact in Science and Medicine by Face-to-Face Africa organization in New York.