I am a Clinical Assistant Professor and co-lead for the Birth Theme at the Maternal Adolescent Reproductive and Child Health (MARCH) Centre— a collaborative network of over 550 researchers at the LSHTM working to improve the health of women, children & adolescents worldwide. I am also a senior scientist in the Vaccines and Immunity Theme and research coordinator for maternal and newborn health at the LSHTM-MRC Unit in The Gambia, West Africa (MRCG at LSHTM).

I received medical training from the University of Calabar, Nigeria, and completed specialist training in paediatrics with the West African College of Physicians. I also completed a master's degree and doctoral training in Epidemiology at the LSHTM. My MRC clinical PhD training focused on using routine microbiological and molecular techniques to identify the causes of neonatal sepsis in The Gambia. I explored the potential role of maternal bacterial colonisation and nosocomial outbreaks in infection transmission to the newborn, applying genomic techniques to identify circulating pathogen strains, characterise antimicrobial resistance, and improve understanding of probable infection acquisition routes.

My postdoctoral research focused on infection prevention and control measures in newborn and maternity units in low-resource settings and implementation research to improve access to and the delivery of quality maternal and newborn health care. My primary research goal is to strengthen the use of data to end preventable deaths of mothers, newborns, and stillbirths in sub-Saharan Africa. Clinical and public health observations can be translated into hypothesis-driven research, and I am committed to maximising research uptake in policy and practice.

I am also a Visiting Lecturer at the College of Medical Sciences, University of Calabar, Nigeria.