The fourth born in a family of eight, Dr Grace Irimu has surpassed the ambitions she had as a young girl to be a doctor, inspired by her father.

The paediatric nephrologist and senior lecturer at the Department of Paediatrics and Child Health at the University of Nairobi is credited for championing the scale up of ETAT + (Emergency, Triage, Assessment and Treatment plus admission care) in Kenya.

ETAT+ is a five-day training programme for dissemination of clinical practice guidelines for seriously sick children.

The guidelines were developed as a response to a survey that revealed serious shortcomings in the way serious common childhood illnesses were managed in Kenyan hospitals.

Dr Irimu was instrumental in introducing ETAT+ in provincial hospitals across the country; scaling up to district and faith-based hospitals is ongoing.

She was a key person in introducing ETAT + as an examinable course for all medical students at the University of Nairobi and at the same time, building a pool of trainers.

Through the efforts of the trainers, ETAT+ has been introduced in Mulago Hospital Uganda and is a course taught at the National University of Rwanda.

Dr Irimu has recently completed her PhD in public health, in which she studied the impact of ETAT+ training in hospital.

The 47-year-old is married with three children aged 13, 16 and 22.

She admits that her work takes a lot of time away from the family but she is convinced it is worth the extra effort.

In addition to her professional duties, Dr Irimu likes social events and community service.