I am a post doctoral Immunologist working within the Vaccines and Immunity Theme. My research focuses on understanding the immune response to infectious diseases and vaccination particularly in early childhood. I have gained extensive experience in various immunological and molecular techniques over the years and have applied these skills in a diverse range of studies on infectious diseases such as malaria, influenza, SARS CoV-2, and Streptococcus pyogenes (GAS). I currently co-lead the Group A strep Immunology work in The Gambia.
I also support the Immunology research laboratories platform at MRC Unit, The Gambia which host permanent research groups for Infant Immunology, TB Immunology and Malaria with more than 60 technical and research staff using the facilities.
Affiliations
Teaching
I co-organized and lectured on the in-house Basic Immuunology course at the MRC Unit, The Gambia. I also supervise the laboratory work of BSc and MSc students that are on secondment at MRC Gambia Unit for their research work. I am a tutor on the Infectious Diseases by Distance Learning module at LSHTM.
Research
My current research focuses on understanding immune response to naturally occuring Streptococcus pyogenes skin and pharyngeal infections in Gambian children and exploring protective immune responses to Group A Strep human challenge in healthy Gambian adults using the GAS human challenge model. Understanding the immune responses to GAS in African populations is crucial for identifying correlates of protection and GAS vaccine development, given the limited immunological data available in this region.
Selected Publications
