After attending local elementary and secondary schools, he was admitted to the University of Nairobi (UoN), in 1986.
[1][3][4] As of 2020, Kiama has spent the last 34 years of his adult life at UoN, either as a student, academic employee or university administrator.
He is credited with raising, in collaboration with others, a total of KSh1.018 billion (approximately US$10.2 million), from donors, sponsors and well-wishers towards university and related programs.
[1] Kiama served as the founding director of the Wangari Maathai Institute for Peace and Environmental Studies, at the UoN.
[1] Dendritic cells, Natural Products, Macrophages, and Pecten oculi, are among his topical research interests.