I am a medical anthropologist with over 25 years of experience researching public health issues, including sexual and reproductive health, infectious diseases, gender-based violence, cancer, and maternal health. I have spent more than 20 years conducting research in East Africa, particularly in Tanzania and Kenya, and I currently lead social science research projects across Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

My research focuses on anthropological perspectives on epidemic preparedness and response, with particular expertise in vaccine clinical trials, vaccine deployment, and humanitarian health interventions. I investigate the social, political, and ethical dimensions of biomedical approaches to public health emergencies, examining their implications for health systems, communities, and wider society. Through this work, I have developed extensive expertise in global health policy and health systems strengthening.

I also lead interdisciplinary research on the prevention of intimate partner violence in Africa, addressing its significant public and global health consequences. My current research includes understanding how health inequities are experienced by marginlised communities. I am also developing projects to capture oral histories of climate change in Tanzania, as well as a feminist political history of Tanzania since the 1980s.

Throughout my career, I have brought anthropological perspectives to multidisciplinary public health interventions, including clinical trials, health systems research, and violence prevention programmes. My work explores how these interventions are experienced by individuals and communities at the political, economic and social level and has contributed to policy development in epidemic preparedness, equitable vaccine delivery, and violence prevention.

A consistent theme across my research is a commitment to equity, gender justice, and the decolonisation of global health. I work to promote community ownership of research and have developed an innovative citizen social science approach to data collection. More recently, I have been advancing deliberative engagement approaches to public health policy and biomedical research design, enabling meaningful public participation in decision-making.