Tell us about your current research

My work focuses on improving maternal and child health outcomes worldwide, specifically through translational research within early life infection, immunity and vaccination.

Currently, I am completing a Wellcome-Trust funded PhD which has been nested in the Gambian Pertussis Study, a phase IV maternal-infant randomised-control pertussis (whooping cough) vaccine trial. We aimed to compare Gambian infant immune responses following vaccination with two types of infant whooping cough vaccines that exist and determine the impact of pertussis immunisation in pregnancy on these infants' developing immune system.

The trial was unique for two key reasons. Pertussis vaccination in pregnancy is not routine in West Africa and, if such a programme were introduced in this setting, it is important to first understand its impact on maternal and infant immunity in a sub-Saharan African cohort and in the context of the current Essential Programme on Immunisation (EPI) schedule. Furthermore, we used novel systems immunology tools and bioinformatic analyses to evaluate infant responses across different arms of the immune system, within different compartments (upper airway, blood), measuring functional antibodies and memory cell responses as well as conducting more traditional quantitative antibody assays. An ambitious but highly worthwhile effort!

How did you first become interested in vaccines?

As a paediatrician for over a decade, working both in the UK and several LMICs, I’ve seen first-hand the real-world impact of vaccines. In settings with limited healthcare access and poor vaccine coverage, the burden of vaccine-preventable diseases is heartbreaking, with unacceptably high morbidity and mortality rates among young children and infants. Conversely, I’ve also witnessed the tremendous progress vaccines have made possible, transforming child health outcomes on a global scale. These experiences highlighted to me just how powerful and essential immunisation programmes are in public health.

Working in vaccines also brings together multiple disciplines that I’m passionate about—immunology, molecular biology and basic science, clinical trials, public health policy and implementation, and social and behavioural science —truly embodying a “bench to bedside” approach. It is this combination of rigorous science, real-world application and global impact that first sparked my interest and continues to drive my work in this field.

Why did you decide to join the Vaccine Centre (VaC)?

I was keen to join VaC’s diverse community of like-minded individuals, who come from different settings, backgrounds, experiences and disciplines, but all with the common goal of promoting vaccine innovation, access, uptake, education and equity globally. At times like these, when we are sadly seeing funding cuts to aid and immunisation programmes worldwide, as well as the spread of vaccine misinformation, networks such as VaC become even more important in bringing people together and fostering crucial discussion, learning and collaboration.

What do you find particularly exciting working as a member of the Vaccine Centre management committee?

Most exciting – probably the richness of perspectives, interests and experiences offered by its diverse set of members. 

As a committee, we are constantly pushing ourselves to find new and relevant topics to present across our three core themes, as well new platforms or ways to engage our members. So far, we have organised hybrid seminars, panel debates, Q&A sessions, student showcases, podcasts, videos and blogs...culminating in the events for World Immunisation Week which we work hard on and are very proud of each year. I particularly enjoyed hosting a session on ‘Health promotion and vaccination in the age of social media: insights from the frontline​’ last year, which brought together a fantastic line up of speakers from UK Health Youtube, UKHSA and Brazil – and a lot of food for thought.

I have also loved having the student liaison officers on the VaC committee as they often come up with innovative and original event ideas. Check out the blog they put together packed with useful information and handy online resources. They also organised a film screening of ‘A Shot in the arm’, an insightful documentary on the antivax movement, followed by a lively Q&A with social sciences professor Heidi Larson and the film director Scott Hamilton Kennedy. Both fantastic initiatives.

All in all, it has been a pleasure working on the VaC management committee for the past year. If you are interested in joining the committee or have an idea you want us to promote, then please get in touch.

Where do you think your research will take you and how do you expect you work to develop?

Broadly, I am committed to inter-disciplinary research which tackles key biological and implementation challenges to the most optimal, equitable and widespread use of vaccines in pregnancy, newborns and infants, particularly in LMICs.

More specifically, following my PhD, I want to continue embedding laboratory-based science and systems immunology methods within large mother/infant vaccine trials or human challenge models. This will enable me to generate mechanistic insights into the magnitude and quality of immune responses elicited by vaccines across different populations. How vaccines confer protection against infection or disease; and how this might be shaped by both intrinsic and environmental factors, including less explored ones such as microplastics, heat exposure, air pollution or the microbiome. There are still plenty of bugs that we don’t have vaccines for but can cause devastating complications and death in babies and young children. Cytomegalovirus (CMV), syphilis, Group A and Group B streptococcus are of particular interest to me based on my previous experiences as a paediatrician, so please do get in touch if they are within your area of expertise.

I am also keen to continue working with social scientists to understand vaccine uptake, including why women decide to receive or refuse vaccines in pregnancy and for their infants, and thereby improve public education, engagement and confidence in routine and/or novel vaccination rollouts.

Above all, I hope my future work will take me back to West Africa, particularly The Gambia where I spent most of my PhD, which was absolutely fantastic. I would like to consolidate the friendships I have made and networks I have set up at the MRC Unit in The Gambia as well as between some wonderful partners in the UK, The Netherlands and Belgium.

What are some of the real-life implications of your work?

We are currently completing the data analysis of the many different aspects of the trial and my embedded PhD, interpreting the results together with those from ongoing follow-on studies that we have set up since the trial ended. Exciting stuff…and watch this space!

Most importantly, the emerging immunogenicity and safety data generated in the trial support existing encouraging clinical effectiveness data on pertussis immunisation in pregnancy as a successful strategy to prevent morbidity and mortality in young infants. This is a crucial message, given the marked resurgence in whooping cough worldwide since late 2023, with a sharp increase in infant hospitalisation and deaths, but unfortunately alongside a decline in coverage of maternal immunisation programmes in many countries.

Beyond this, we will share our findings with key policy stakeholders to be used, as appropriate, when optimising maternal pertussis immunisation guidelines and infant vaccination schedules; for example, when evaluating the content and timing of pertussis vaccine doses, or the administration of concomitant vaccines and boosters. Our trial is particularly unique because studies on pertussis vaccination in pregnancy have been limited in sub-Saharan Africa. Our rich dataset will also contribute to the PERISCOPE consortium's broader efforts to improve the design and testing of the next generation of more effective and longer-lasting infant pertussis vaccines.

What do you like doing in your spare time?

I am currently on maternity leave with our second baby so spare time is a luxury and usually spent catching up on sleep. But generally, if I ever have a few hours to myself, I love a good book or (trashy!) TV boxset…currently reading ‘The Wren, The Wren’ by Anne Enright and rewatching Motherland - which feels very appropriate. Oh, and if I’m feeling particularly energetic then I love playing tennis, swimming or joining a particularly brutal circuits session at my local gym.

How can people get in touch with you?

Email me on [email protected]