Muhammed Afolabi obtained a medical degree from the University of Ibadan and a Master’s degree in Public Health from Obafemi Awolowo University, both in Nigeria, West Africa. He also underwent specialist medical training leading to the award of a postgraduate fellowship of the West African College of Physicians in Family Medicine. He obtained a PhD from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) in 2015. He is also a Fellow of the Faculty of Public Health of the Royal Colleges of Physicians of the United Kingdom.

Muhammed joined LSHTM in 2016 to work on the School's Ebola vaccine project based in Kambia, northern Sierra Leone, where he led the preparations and conduct of the paediatric components of the trials; the findings of which contributed to the approval of the novel two-dose Ebola vaccine regimen (Zabdeno, Mvabea) by the European Medicines Agency and pre-qualification by the World Health Organization. 

Muhammed’s research antecedents at the MRC Unit, The Gambia (MRCG) from 2009-2016 were in the evaluation of HIV and malaria vaccines in adult and paediatric populations. He led the collaborative trial involving MRCG and Université Cheikh Anta Diop (UCAD), Senegal to evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of malaria vaccines when co-administered with routine childhood immunisations in infants and neonates.

Muhammed has a track record of developing innovative solutions to address the unmet needs of the populations he works with. For example, to address the perennial challenges faced when communicating essential research information to low-literacy research participants, Muhammed developed and evaluated in a randomised controlled trial a simplified alternative method of delivering consent information using a locally designed multimedia tool which integrated video, animations and audio narrations in local languages. This study formed the basis of his highly regarded PhD, which he passed without requiring any corrections from the Examiners. The multimedia consent tool has changed the way informed consent procedure is conducted at MRCG and deservedly led to the award of prizes including MRCG Director's Award in 2013 and MRC Chief Executive Officer Award in 2014.

Muhammed is an experienced provider of technical support for clinical research, public health and epidemiological strategies to health organisations focused on operational and clinical research activities. He is experienced in managing multiple research projects including clinical operations, study timelines, resources, budget, risk mitigation and quality assurance plans. Muhammed serves on several committees including the WHO Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) Working Group on COVID-19 vaccines and the Nuffield Council on Bioethics. He is also an Academic Editor of the PLOS Global Public Health.

Muhammed is currently working on a prestigious UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship, designed to tackle the difficult and novel challenges posed by the co-endemicity of malaria and helminths in a high-risk paediatric population in West Africa by investigating the feasibility, safety, acceptability, effectiveness, and cost-effectiveness of integrating helminth control with seasonal malaria chemoprevention (SMC). This adventurous project will hopefully lead to the implementation of an increasingly recognised WHO strategy of a paradigm shift from parallel, top-down disease control programmes to integrated, locally relevant, evidence-based, and sustainable child health policies and their delivery.