Dr. Mélanie Ngutuka Kinzunga, MD, MPH, PhD Candidate, is a physician, pulmonologist, public health researcher, and academic based at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. She currently serves as an Assistant Lecturer in the Department of Internal Medicine, Pneumology Unit, while pursuing her PhD research on air pollution and respiratory health in Kinshasa. Dr. Ngutuka's research focuses on environmental health, air pollution, respiratory diseases, and epidemiology, with particular emphasis on the health impacts of particulate matter (PM2.5) in Sub-Saharan Africa. She holds a Master's degree in Public Health and Environmental Risks from the École des Hautes Études en Santé Publique (France) and specialized training in Pneumology from Université Paris-Est Créteil, complemented by advanced studies in health and environmental sciences. Throughout her career, she has combined clinical practice, research, and teaching. She has served as an independent research expert for the National Program for the Control of Acute Respiratory Infections under the Ministry of Health of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and has held clinical and academic positions in both the Democratic Republic of the Congo and France. Dr. Ngutuka has authored and co-authored numerous peer-reviewed scientific publications addressing air pollution, respiratory health, pneumonia, and environmental epidemiology. Her work has been published in internationally recognized journals, contributing significantly to the understanding of environmental determinants of respiratory diseases in African urban settings. In addition to her research activities, Dr. Ngutuka actively contributes to the scientific community as a peer reviewer for several leading international journals, including Frontiers in Public Health, BMC Public Health, Respiratory Research, and npj Digital Medicine. She is also deeply engaged in community and leadership initiatives, serving as Co-founder and President of AFEF, an organization dedicated to empowering young women, and Co-founder and Vice-President of ASEC, which promotes environmental health awareness and prevention programs in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Her multidisciplinary expertise bridges clinical medicine, public health, environmental science, and spatial epidemiology, with the overarching goal of improving respiratory health outcomes and advancing evidence-based environmental health policies in Africa and beyond.    

Long-Term Air Pollution, Green Space, and Pneumonia Hospitalizations in an African Megacity: A Spatial Bayesian Analysis from Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo."   Background Pneumonia remains a leading cause of hospitalization and mortality worldwide, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. Although long-term exposure to air pollution has been associated with adverse respiratory outcomes, evidence from sub-Saharan Africa remains scarce. This study investigated the spatial relationships between long-term environmental exposures and pneumonia hospitalizations across Kinshasa, one of Africa's largest and fastest growing megacities.   Methods We conducted a retrospective ecological spatial study including 484,954 pneumonia hospitalizations recorded between 2018 and 2022 across the 35 health zones of Kinshasa. Long-term exposure to PM₂.₅, NO₂, carbon monoxide (CO), vegetation cover (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, NDVI), major road density, climatic variables, and healthcare infrastructure indicators were assessed using satellite-derived and geospatial datasets. Bayesian BYM2 negative binomial spatial models were applied to estimate age-stratified relative risks while accounting for spatial autocorrelation and overdispersion.   Results Marked spatial heterogeneity in pneumonia incidence was observed, with persistent high-risk clusters located in central and northern districts of Kinshasa. Children younger than five years accounted for 41% of all hospitalizations and experienced the greatest cumulative incidence. After adjustment for environmental, climatic, and infrastructural factors, vegetation cover emerged as the strongest protective determinant, reducing pneumonia risk across all age groups (RR range: 0.58-0.85). Unexpectedly, no individual air pollutant (PM₂.₅, NO₂, or CO) showed a consistent independent association with pneumonia after multivariable adjustment. Areas characterized by low vegetation cover, greater climatic stress, and limited healthcare infrastructure consistently exhibited the highest pneumonia burden.   Conclusions Environmental and infrastructural inequalities appear to play a greater role in the spatial distribution of pneumonia than individual air pollutants alone in this rapidly urbanizing African megacity. These findings emphasize the importance of integrating urban greening strategies, equitable healthcare access, and environmental planning into respiratory disease prevention policies. This study provides one of the largest spatial analyses of pneumonia hospitalizations conducted in sub-Saharan Africa and offers evidence to guide public health interventions aimed at reducing the burden of respiratory diseases in rapidly expanding urban settings.   Keywords: Pneumonia; Air pollution; Green space; PM₂.₅; Bayesian spatial analysis; Respiratory diseases; Sub-Saharan Africa; Kinshasa.