Cecil Zera Otieno, Kenya, is a direct doctoral candidate in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Tel Aviv University. His research examines how endogenous sphingolipids regulate inflammatory processes in innate immunity. He was previously a predoctoral fellow at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, NIH, in Bethesda. He holds a First-Class Honors BSc in Biochemistry from the University of Nairobi and an MSc in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Tel Aviv University. He is committed to advancing a just and equitable society.