Isatou Jagne joined the Unit in 2007 as a laboratory technician, rising through the post of a trainee Scientific Officer, to her current position as a Higher Scientific Officer on the PregnAnZI-2 trial, coordinating all laboratory activities and leading a team of three scientific officers. She has been involved in several studies at the Unit, including two clinical trials focused on the impact of oral azithromycin on mortality, sepsis and bacterial transmission, a clinical trial assessing safety of a combination of primaquine and artemether-lumefantrine among G-6-PD deficient individuals and an observational study exploring pneumococcal carriage post introduction of the PCV vaccine in The Gambia.

Isatou is passionate about maternal, neonatal and child health due to personal events involving pregnancy and childbirth. She has a keen interest in antimicrobial resistance which is a prominent public health problem that can have a devastating impact on health particularly in low income countries.

The state of The Gambia’s health system has sparked her interest in health policy and health systems strengthening and fostered her drive to engage in public and global health research focused on improving maternal, neonatal and child health, ensuring that no woman dies whilst giving life, reducing the number of still births and ensuring that every child that is born thrives.

At the Festival, Isatou will engage with the MRC community and members of the public, sharing information on the process of microbiological sampling and testing.