I have been working on the epidemiology and control and elimination of malaria and neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) at LSHTM since 2010. I completed a Wellcome Trust Clinical PhD Fellowship at LSHTM on the molecular epidemiology of trachoma and ocular Chlamydia trachomatis infection on the Archipelago of Guinea Bissau between 2011-2014. I continued my research in trachoma in Guinea Bissau through an NIHR Clinical Lectureship at LSHTM between 2015-2017. Following my appointment as an Associate Professor, from 2017-2019 I led a network of integrated studies on NTDs (including soil-transmitted helminths, lymphatic filariasis, schistosomiasis, yaws and scabies) and malaria in Guinea Bissau through an MRC Global Challenges Research Foundation Award. I continue my involvement in trachoma research as a Co-investigator on a Wellcome Trust Collaborative research programme towards the elimination of trachoma in Ethiopia (Stronger-SAFE) and as PI for a study evaluating the impact of ivermectin on the putatitve trachoma vector, Musca sorbens. I am currently working with LSHTM and international collaborators to establish a consortium towards the development and evaluation of a vaccine for sustainable trachoma elimination. I was PI for the recently completed MATAMAL, a Joint Global Health Trials Scheme-funded cluster randomised placebo-controlled trial to evaluate the impact of mass administered ivermectin for malaria control on the Archipelago of Guinea Bissau. Following the successful administration of MDA in this context, I am now working towards future projects to evaluate interventions for malaria elimination in this setting. I am also working towards similar trials in Zanzibar with colleagues at LSHTM and Tanzania. I have continued research interests in malaria and NTD elimination in East and West Africa.

I have directly influenced the delivery of interventions and their evaluation through participation in working groups such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation funded multidisciplinary group ‘The Ivermectin Roadmappers’, following a World Health Organization (WHO) technical consultation on ivermectin for malaria control. I contribute to MESA (originally the Malaria Eradication Scientific Alliance),
hosted by the WHO Collaborating Centre for Malaria Control, Elimination and Eradication at IS Global (Barcelona) to strengthen the evidence base through research into malaria control interventions. I have been an active member of the London Centre for Neglected Tropical Diseases Research (LCNTDR), launched in 2013 following the London Declaration in 2012, with a focus on operational research in NTDs and have participated in the WHO Alliance for the Global Elimination of Trachoma (GET2020) for the last decade. I am currently a technical adviser to the WHO for the consultation on Trachoma End-Game Challenges and am involved in discussions related to access and implementation of interventions towards the elimination of NTDs as well as being a core member of a WHO guideline development group for integrated mass drug treatments for NTDs. I have supported national trachoma control programmes in Guinea Bissau, The Gambia and Ethiopia through research and capacity strenghthening throughout my research career.

Over the last seven years, with my field team and colleagues in Guinea Bissau, MRC The Gambia and at LSHTM, we have established research infrastructure including an experienced field research team, social science researchers, field laboratory technicians and field entomologists on the remote Bijagós Archipelago of Guinea Bissau. We continue to work with the National Malaria Control Programme and the Global Fund to undertake malaria surveillance activities following successful intervention through MATAMAL.

I hold an Honorary Consultant position at the Hospital for Tropical Diseases, where I have a weekly outpatient clinic and look after inpatients with infectious and tropical diseases.