Neglected Tropical Diseases
I am a member of the World Health Organization Neglected Tropical Diseases Diagnostic Technical Advisory Group, am a member of the steering committee and former chair of the International Alliance for the Control of Scabies and sit on the technical advisory group for the World Scabies Program. 

Yaws: My Phd, funded by the Wellcome Trust, focused on the impact of azithromycin mass administration on treponemal infections as part of a strategy to eliminate yaws in the Solomon Islands. I was a lead investigator on a WHO trial of treatment of yaws in Ghana and Papua New Guinea and subsequently collaborated with Oriol Mitjà on studies to optimise community treatment strategies for yaws in PNG. Between 2020-2023 I was principal investigator on an EDCTP evaluation of a LAMP assay for yaws in Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire and Cameroon. I am currently collaborating on studies evaluating Linezolid as a new therapeutic agent for yaws and studies using proteomic arrays to evaluate new diagnostics.

Scabies: I have been involved in a number of studies on the epidemiology and control of scabies. These works contributed to WHO adopting scabies as an in 2017.  I collaborated with Andrew Steer and John Kaldor, in Sydney, on studies to understand the use of mass treatment strategies to control scabies in the Pacific and in the Gambia with colleagues on studies exploring the use of ivermectin in younger children. Between 2025-2029 I am leading the IVM-KIDS project funded by the EDCTP and Coefficient Giving which will generate data on a novel paediatric formulation of ivermectin across Africa.

Leprosy: With Gabriele Pollara at UCL, Steve Walker at LSHTM and Kidist Bobosha at AHRI I am collaborating on the Immuno-Lep study (2024-2027) which aims to use tissue level transcriptomics to unpick immunological drivers of leprosy reactions and indentify novel therapeutic targets that may be more effective and have reduced side-effects compared to steroids.

Integrated NTD control: I am interested in strategies for the integrated control of neglected tropical diseases. I was lead investigator on studies exploring the possibility of combining MDA programmes for multiple NTDs into a single intervention in Ethiopia and Papua New Guinea. Along with Rachel Pullan, Steve Walker and others I was lead investigator on the NIHR funded SHARP project (2019-2025) on integrated control strategies for NTDs of the skin including buruli ulcer, yaws, cutaneous leishmaniasis and leprosy in Ghana and Ethiopia. Building off the work of the SHARP project, we have established the EDCTP funded MAMS4CL consortium which will deliver a seamless Phase 2 - Phase 3 trial  of therapeutics for Cutaneous Leishmaniasis in Ethiopia. 

Sexually Transmitted Infections
I am a member of the steering committee of the LSHTM STI Research Interest Group and a member of the WHO Collaborating Centre on STIs.

I help run the International Syphilis Symposium Webinar series.

Syphilis: In collaboration with Nick Thomson and Mat Beale at the Sanger, a major area of interest has been the application of next-generation sequencing to understand the epidemiology of syphilis. This has included conducting the largest multi-country whole genome sequencing study of syphilis to date. We expanded this work to include a focus on genital ulcer disease across Botswana, Ghana, Uganda and Zimbabwe funded by the Gates Foundation (2020-2023) which will provide vital data on global genomic diversity. A further Gates grant (2021-2026) is focused on identifying targets for syphilis vaccine development and makes use of the treponema-cell culture model established at the Sanger.

A major stream of work is focused on therapeutic strategies for syphilis. I am PI on a multi-country trial (2024-2028, Papua New Guinea and Zimbabwe) funded by the Gates foundation evaluating novel dosing of benzathine-penicillin to simplify treatment for pregnant women with syphilis. Alongside this I am one of the lead investigators on a second trial funded by the Gates foundation, evaluating oral drug regimens for infants with congenital syphilis in South Africa, Malawi and Indonesia. In the UK, in collaboration with Richard Gilson at UCL I helped establish sites for a Phase 3 trial  evaluating Linezolid as a new oral therapy for syphilis as part of a multi-centre study led by my long term collaborator Oriol Mitjà. We are now establishing the BREAKFREE-Syphilis studies evaluating Linezolid in the treatment of neurosyphilis and cefixime as an alternative treatment for syphilis in pregnancy.

I am currently funded by an NIHR Professorship (2024-2029) which will focus on applying these approaches to improve the control of syphilis in the UK. This will integrate elements focused on genomic epidemiology, diagnostics and mathematical modelling. A key component is comprehensive patient and public engagement and I am working closely with the LoveTank to incorporate PPIE at every stage of the work. We are also working with Marcus Chen in Monash to look at shedding of T.pallidum from the mucosa and its implication for transmission.

STI Diagnostics:

In many LMICs syphilis testing remains limited to the antenatal setting and key groups such as men who have sex with men (MSM) are often unable to access testing. In order to improve outcomes for marginalised groups I previously worked with Joe Tucker on MRC funded studies (2018-2020) to evaluate innovative strategies, such as self-testing, to improve syphilis testing rates amongst high risk groups in China and Zimbabwe.

I collaborate with Rashida Ferrand and the team at ThruZIM who have established the PROMISE trial (2025-2029( which will evaluate the impact of implementing ANC testing for STIs on maternal and infant outcomes. This study will run for three years and take place across 15 antenatal clinics in Harare.

Sexual & Reproductive Health: During the COVID-pandemic (2020-22) I was a member of the I-SHARE consortium which examined the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on sexual and reproductive health across a diverse range of low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries. 

Group A Streptotococcus
My work on scabies led on to a research interest in Group A Streptococcal (GAS) which is a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide.

Epidemiology: With Thushan de Silva at the University of Sheffield and MRC Unit the Gambia we established studies focused on understanding the epidemiology of GAS. These included the SpyCATS study, led by Edwin Armitage, which is the most detailed household transmission study of GAS conducted worldwide and the PharynGAS Study evaluating near-patient diagnostic tests. With Ed Clarke at MRC Gambia we have now established further community and hospital based surveillance focused on GAS as part of the SAVAC consortium of sentinel sites (2025-27).

Immunology: Our GAS work also includes a focus on immune responses to GAS and attempting to identify correlates of protection. Our team at MRC Gambia is part of the iSpy Network led by Shiranee Sriskandan which is focused on understanding protective immunity across the life course. Led by  Josh Osowicki and Ed Clarke we have received funding from the Wellcome Trust to establish a controlled human infection model of Group A Strep infection in the Gambia to try and understand correlates of protection and advance vaccine development. 

Respiratory Viruses and Emerging Infections

Winter Pressures: Funded by NIHR I am an investigator studies led by Roz Eggo (2024-27), using OpenSafely and modelling to investigate the impacts of respiratory viruses and other drivers of increased health service pressure during the winter on primary and secondary care. 

Post-COVID: I am a member of the national management committee of PHOSP a UK cohort study exploring long-term outcomes of patients hospitalised with COVID-19. Linked to this I was co-investigator on grants led by Andy Briggs evaluating health system pathways and economic impact of  COVID in the secondary care setting and the OpenPrompt study led by Roz Eggo evaluating impacts in the primary care setting. 

COVID Transmission: I was PI on an MRC/NIHR funded study (2020-21) which has taken a multi-disciplinary approach to understanding transmission of COVID in minority populations in the UK and how public health responses can best be contexualised to the needs of these groups. Alongside this I was also the co-ordinator of the EDCTP funded CSIGN project which helped to strengthen surveillance of COVID-19 in Ghana.

MPOX: During the 2022 MPOX pandemic I established several studies in collaboration with Oriol Mitja which helped define the epidemiology of mpox as an emerging STI. We were one of the first groups to clearly demonstrate transmission linked to sexual activity, to clearly define periods of infectivity and understand the relationship between mpox and advanced HIV. We are now (2024-2026) running the EDCTP funded MOVIE-TRACE project in collaboration with colleagues at INRB in DRC to better understand the transmission dynamics of the newly emerging 1b mpox clade and between 2025-27 will be running a similar study (MOVIE-TRACE SALONE) in response to the outbreak of mpox occuring in Sierra Leone.

Emerging Zoonotic Infections: I am a co-investigator on the NIHR Health Protection Research Unit on Emerging Zoonotic Infections (2025-2029). At LSHTM our focus will be on evaluating strategies including metagenomics and phip-seq to improve diagnosis of fever in returning travellers.

UK Pragmatic Infectious Diseases Trials
I am a founding member of the UCLH Clinical Infection Research Committee helping oversee a portfolio of research. I am a co-investigator on the SNAP trial, the worlds largest RCT on Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia. I am a member of the UK regional steering committee and the global early oral switch and adjunctive-therapies working groups. At UCLH I am also a site PI or investigator on several other major trials including DURATIONS (pyelonephritis), ASPECT (Pneumonia) and RECOVERY-CAP (Pneumonia). 

Other Activities
Alongside my research, I worked with Chrissy Roberts to establish and run the ODK@LSHTM service which supports the uptake of the ODK electronic data collection platform in research projects run by LSHTM. Our Emergency Data Kit project supported the role out of Ebola Vaccination in the DRC

ORC-ID

Details of grants and work I have been involved in are available on ORC-ID