My work considers why oral vaccines (such as those targeting polio and rotavirus) have consistently proven to be less effective in low-income countries. To date, I have focused on the possible contribution of the microbiome to this phenomenon, applying a range of lab and bioinformatic tools to sequence gut bacteria and viruses.

However, the microbiome does not exist in a vacuum – it shapes and is in turn shaped by host immunity, gene expression, protein production, and metabolism. In my new role at LSHTM, I hope to gain a deeper understanding of this interconnected system and thereby shed light on the fundamental mechanisms that shape vaccine immunity.

I am a keen but sporadic science writer. I am also interested in data visualisation, and recently developed an interactive mapping tool to help contextualise the COVID-19 outbreak. This was covered by The Conversation and BBC World Service.

Popular science writing:

Coronavirus: who is at risk and how do we know?, The Conversation, March 2020 (co-authored with Professor Beate Kampmann)

Coronavirus outbreak: a new mapping tool that lets you scroll through timeline, The Conversation, February 2020

Andy Serkis’s Breathe is a haunting reminder of the pre-vaccine era, The Conversation, October 2017 (reprinted by The Independent)

Salk's swansong: renaissance of the injected polio vaccine, Science-based Medicine, October 2014

Gut reaction: the impact of intestinal infections on polio vacccination, MRC Insight, October 2014

Sister Kenny: a study in inflexibility, The Lancet Infectious Diseases, June 2014