Current Research
Current Research
Current Research
I am always looking to form new scientific collaborators. Read about my research here
My Publications
Current Research
Current Research
Click here to view my peer-reviewed scientific publications
My CV
Current Research
My CV
Click here to view my CV for details of my previous employment, skills and awards
IMPRINT - Assessing the impact of the early-life gut microbiota on later susceptibility to intestinal infection
Exposure to the gut microbiome in early-life helps to recruit and imprint immune cells in the intestine which remain trained and ready to respond to immune challenges in later life. Disturbing this process, for example through excessive exposure to antibiotics, may therefore lead to increased susceptibility to immune-related disorders in later life. As part of my Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Research Fellowship to the Institut Pasteur, I am studying how the healthy gut microbiome during childhood can help to train the immune system to respond to infection in adulthood. This may help us to understand why some people are more or less susceptible to certain infections and help to identify new targets within the gut that could be treated during early-life to help train a healthy immune system, via the gut microbiome.
META-SAM (Metagenomics and Metabolomics of Severe Acute Malnutrition)
Severe acute malnutrition (SAM) is the most extreme form of malnutrition and is diagnosed by low weight, extreme muscle wasting or oedema (fluid in the limbs and face leading to swelling). These children also have many changes in their gut. Even though there are World Health Organisation protocols in place for SAM, 10-50% of children admitted to hospital for SAM will die either in hospital or in the few months after. Those that do survive have a high risk of relapse and have impaired growth up to 7 years after. We do not know why. However, there is some evidence to suggest the changes in a child's gut are critical.
I am currently conducting a longitudinal observational study of children diagnosed with severe acute malnutrition in Zimbabwe and Zambia. Using a multi-omics approach (shotgun metagenomics and metabolomics) I am examining how a disturbed gut microbiota (upper and lower GI) may contribute to the onset of oedematous and non-oedematous malnutrition and the long-term clinical outcomes after treatment.
SHINE (Sanitation, Hygiene, Infant Nutrition Efficacy)
The SHINE study is a large intervention trial of over 5000 mother infant pairs in rural Zimbabwe from early pregnancy to 18 months of age. The SHINE study is examining the role of WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) and nutrition for improving child stunting, the most common from of child malnutrition worldwide.
Within this project I am examining whether the gut microbiome affects child growth and development. We are particularly interested in:
i) The role of the mother's microbiome in child growth
ii) The role of breastfeeding in the infant microbiome
iii) The role of the infant microbiome in vaccine responses
Other work
My research interests involve the interface between nutrients, gut microbiota and host health especially in early life, using combined in vitro, pre clinical and human models. Alongside my current research in child undernutrition, I continue to be involved in the study of the interaction between dietary omega-3 fatty acids and the developing gut microbiota and outcomes of host metabolic health.
Collaborators
Prof. Andrew Prendergast - Queen Mary University London and Zvitambo Institute for Maternal and Child Health
Prof. Paul Kelly - Queen Mary University of London and University Teaching Hospital Lusaka
Dr. Amee Manges - University of British Columbia and British Columbia Centre for Disease Control
Prof. Catherine Stanton - APC Microbiome Institute, University College Cork
Dr. Jing X Kang - Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard University Medical School
