Before Dr Samson Gwer became a titan in neurology, he was a truant, troubled child.
His formative student years in boarding school were a study in defiance. He sneaked out. He was a vandal, burning desks and dorm beds, and breaking windows. He went on hunger strikes and stole food from the kitchen. This was until his father sat him down and had a long talk with him.
“My important lessons on fatherhood I learned from my father,” he says. “He never gave up on me.”
A pariah in school, he hunkered down to channel his formidable intensity into intellectual pursuits, eventually earning his PhD in “Cerebral Function and Haemodynamics of Children with Acute non-Traumatic Coma.”
For nearly 20 years, Dr Gwer has been involved in clinical research on childhood acute coma. He co-founded Afya Research Africa (ARA), a nonprofit behind a network of 25 community-co-owned primary healthcare centres called Ubuntu-Afya Kiosks that have so far served more than 60,000 people. He’s a director at Ubuntu Neurology.
He teaches Medicine at Kenyatta University and provides mentorship and supervision for the Kenya Child Neurology Fellowship Programme, which he helped initiate.
He is also a consultant pediatric neurologist at Gertrude’s Children’s Hospital in Nairobi, the African Child Neurology Association chairman, and a commission member of the International League Against Epilepsy - Africa.
The sun rises twice on Dr Samson Gwer’s day. “I don’t know how to sit still. I want to be doing something.”
Paul mentioned that you crossed swords with Kemri at some point in your career. What was that about?
[Laughs] Oh yes, that incident. We were kicked out in 2010 for protesting against racism in science. The research model at that time was flawed; typically, one individual—often a foreigner—received the funding while the rest of us worked under them.
We were dissatisfied with the lack of proper attribution; the results didn’t reflect our contributions. Those of us in the middle of the authorship process often felt neglected. There were numerous ethical issues, and we were stagnating in our careers.
After we were expelled, we decided to take legal action and initially won the first phase of our case. In 2014, they filed an appeal against our victory, and we lost that appeal.
We then took the matter to the Supreme Court, but unfortunately, we lost there as well. To be honest, there was just a lot of impropriety, and that’s a whole other story.
What kind of a student were you in school?
My two eldest brothers are doctors, which created a certain expectation for me. Growing up, I struggled with many things. In Class Six, while at a boarding school, I went on a hunger strike because the food and environment were not to my liking.
It was just me and another student from a wealthy family. When our strike ended, he was transferred, and I ended up taking all the blame. I received a severe beating for it, and my report form indicated that I was a vandal; I would break desks, steal beds, and shatter windows.
One day, I led a group of pupils in stealing beans from the kitchen. This behaviour frustrated the headmaster who had previously seen my older siblings succeed. He suggested to my mother that I might need to be taken to a mental institution; my mother was a special education teacher.
I only began to settle down in Class Eight. Unfortunately, I missed the admission cut-off for Alliance High School by one mark and was instead admitted to St Mary’s Yala. It was a tough environment; the prefects wielded immense power.
During the first week, I fled from school and wandered around Kisumu for a week until my money ran out. I eventually returned home, where my dad had been searching for me.
Thankfully, the student I escaped with was the nephew of the deputy headmaster, so we were allowed back but received punishment. I faced taunts from other students, and to cope, I spent time reading in class until lights out and then went to bed afterwards.
That term, I worked hard and became number one in my class, which felt great. I figured out how to navigate the system: if I read a lot, I could succeed. I did just that and earned an A in my KCSE.
Did you know what you wanted to do?
I was quite good at math and physics, so I initially thought I should become an engineer. However, my older siblings were in medical school, and my parents believed I should pursue medicine as well. I don’t regret that decision.
Medical school was okay; I also engaged in side hustles, like assembling computers, which were popular at the time. I assisted master’s students with their research as well.
My interest in paediatrics developed when I worked in Kilifi, where I encountered children who had slipped into comas due to trauma from conditions like malaria or encephalitis. At that time, diagnostic capabilities were quite limited.
I felt passionate about helping these children. Some of the cases were heartbreaking, and as I grew older and started my own family, those experiences continued to haunt me.
I decided to specialise in paediatrics and focused on neurology. I took on more responsibilities and projects than anyone else around me.
I studied neurology extensively and published over 25 peer-reviewed papers. I pursued my PhD because the threshold requirements were well below what I was capable of achieving.
Samson Gwer, a Paediatric Neurologist at Ubuntu Neurology Limited in this photo taken on June 12, 2025.
Photo credit: Kevin Odit | Nation Media Group
Fortunately, my commitment and hard work have led to numerous opportunities and accolades, including the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health Fellowship award in 2009, the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene Fellowship award in 2010, the Sheila Wallace award from the International Child Neurology Association in 2012, and the International Scholarship award from the American Academy of Neurology in 2013.
[Smiles] It has been a fulfilling journey.
What were some of the key turning points in your life?
There are several experiences that have shaped my life. For instance, my decision to run away from school led to a life-changing conversation with my father.
Engaging in business and research at university as a side hustle was also valuable; it allowed me to learn many things that most of my classmates did not.
Meeting Charles, my mentor and supervisor at the time, was another turning point. He was very busy and overwhelmed, yet he quickly began sending me to meetings and assigning me major responsibilities.
Getting laid off from my job in 2010 turned out to be a blessing because it led me to where I am today. Having my first son at a young age—he's now 19—prepared me for adulthood early on, grounded me, and instilled a sense of responsibility. I now have four sons, with the youngest being six. Becoming a parent at a young age taught me to be frugal.
While working in Kilifi, I built my first house, and after that, I realised that once you live in your own home, you don’t want to stay in anyone else’s house. When we moved to Nairobi, I built another house.
What are your imperfections?
[Chuckles] This brings me to the topic of genes and the countless genetic anomalies that make us unique as human beings. Who you are as Jackson Biko isn’t defined by your perfect genes, but by your imperfections.
One of my flaws is my inability to tolerate inefficiency. I also don't like to sit idle; I am always engaged in something and constantly working.
I believe that anything worth doing requires hard work. However, I've come to realise that many of the significant progress I've made has actually come during moments when I'm not working, especially when I’m interacting with people.
What are you most curious about the older you, say 10 years from now?
That’s 57 years. [Pause] I wonder how I’ll be spending my time. I know that many things about me will change; my body, for instance, is not likely to remain the same. I hope my IQ and cognitive functions don’t decline significantly.
I will probably be involved in teaching and research, and I might see that odd, complicated patient from time to time. Given how my life has unfolded in the past, I anticipate there will be a lot of serendipity, and I need to be ready to seize those opportunities and just go with the flow.
Tell me something very interesting about the mind and its workings.
There are so many fascinating things, where do we even begin? One of the most important things I've come to value and advocate for is the power of sleep. Sleep has numerous benefits for both the mind and body.
It enhances cognitive function, reduces the risk of Alzheimer's disease, heart disease, and mental illness. It refreshes us, helps us solve problems, and improves memory.
Another area of interest for me is the interface between humans and machines. For instance, have you heard of the phantom limb phenomenon in amputees? How can we navigate nerves to communicate with cables and create prosthetics? Imagine using a Wi-Fi connection that allows an amputee to control their prosthetic arm from a distance—as long as there is a strong Wi-Fi signal.
This interface is fascinating to me and is the foundation of projects like Neuralink, which explores how we can communicate with our computers and make things happen. The human mind is incredibly powerful.
Scientists like you tend to question the existence of God. Do you believe in God?
[Chuckles] You know, my parents may read this article. [Pause] I was brought up in an Anglican family.
[Pause] Let me put it this way: I think that the way we perceive God is different for different people. And I like to believe that none of us is wrong. So I'm open concerning how we define God. That’s all I will say to that. [Laughs].
What's been your most beautiful scar?
You know, all these experiences I've spoken about, those turning points, have all been scars. They have been as scarring as they were traumatic. They did things that changed me.
And I think each one of them has contributed significantly to who I am today. That’s what scars should do: change you, possibly for the better.
