Dr Jean Paul Bikorimana holds a PhD, with a focus on Medical Anthropology and Global Health, obtained from the University of Sussex, UK. His doctoral thesis focused on illness lived experiences, gender and intersectionality. He also holds a Master of Public Health (MPH) with a specialization in Epidemiology and Disease Control from the Mount Kenya University, and a Bachelor of Science with Honours in Physiotherapy from the Kigali Institute of Health.
Jean Paul joined the University of Rwanda in 2020, where he currently serves as an academic staff member at the Centre for Gender Studies in Kigali. In 2025, he was appointed Honorary Research Fellow in the School of Education at the University of Aberdeen.
He is also undertaking postdoctoral training in applied health research at the University of Rwanda in collaboration with the University of Aberdeen.
Prior to joining academia, Jean Paul held different managerial positions within non-governmental organizations in Rwanda. In these roles, he contributed significantly to the development of national guidelines for neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), the NTD national strategic plan, research, and capacity building of healthcare professionals, and awareness. He also contributed to establishing podoconiosis (non-filarial elephantiasis) health care services and developing educational materials for both community and healthcare settings in Rwanda.
His research interests include gender and intersectionality, health disparities, suffering, stigma, and the lived experiences of illness, and he has published scholarly articles that contribute to knowledge generation, policy, practice, and literature.
Jean Paul has completed a range of professional trainings that have strengthened his academic and professional development, including Gender and Health: Awareness, Analysis and Action; Integrating Gender Equality and Inclusion in Research; Analysing Gender Relations and Exclusion; Gender Equality Integration in Global Health; and Project Management in Global Health.
Publications
- Bikorimana, J. P., Mukabera, J., Davey, G., Mugume, P. J., & Nahar, P. (2025). Individual identities and stigma inequalities: insights from the experience of people affected by podoconiosis in Rwanda. International Journal for Equity in Health, 24(1), 254.
- Bikorimana JP, Davey G, Mukabera J, Shahaduz Z, Mugume PJ, Nahar P. (2024) Uncovering intersecting stigmas experienced by people affected by podoconiosis in Nyamasheke district, Rwanda. PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases. 18(10):e0012603.
- Bikorimana, Jean Paul. (2024) "Exploring the lived experience of people affected by podoconiosis in Nyamasheke District, Rwanda: Understanding intersectionality. https://research.brighton.ac.uk/files/49452234/Bikorimana_Thesis.pdf
- Bikorimana JP, Thellmann C, Mulugeta T et al. (2023) Doctoral research, COVID-19, and political crisis in Ethiopia, Sudan, Rwanda, and the UK: challenges, responses, and recommendations [version 1; peer review: 2 approved]. NIHR Open Res (https://doi.org/10.3310/nihropenres.13470.1)Link: https://openresearch.nihr.ac.uk/articles/3-53/v1#referee-response-30641
- Bikorimana, J. P., Bayisenge, U., Huston, T., Ruberanziza, E., Mbonigaba, J. B., Dukuzimana, M. J., & Davey, G. (2020). Individual and familial characteristics of patients with podoconiosis attending a clinic in Musanze District, Rwanda: A retrospective study. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 114(12), 947-953.
- Deribe, K., Mbituyumuremyi, A., Cano, J., Bosco, M.J., Giorgi, E., Ruberanziza, E., Bayisenge, U., Leonard, U., Bikorimana, J.P., Rucogoza, A. and Turate, I., (2019). Geographical distribution and prevalence of podoconiosis in Rwanda: a cross-sectional country-wide survey. The Lancet Global Health, 7(5), pp.e671-e680.