I am an interdisciplinary social scientist and jointly appointed as an Associate Professor in the social science of global and adolescent health and as head of social science at the MRC/UVRI & LSHTM Uganda Research Unit in Entebbe, Uganda where I lead a team of 60 inter-disciplinary social scientists.

I am recognised for specialisms in the qualitative evaluation of complex violence prevention interventions and formative research on the contextual and structural drivers of violence. I led the qualitative evaluation of the SASA! Study, a cluster randomised controlled trial conducted in Kampala, Uganda, and the Good School Study, a randomised controlled trial of a school-based violence prevention intervention conducted in Luwero, Uganda.

My research focuses on low- and middle-income country contexts where I have conducted impact evaluations and formative research in countries including Uganda, Tanzania, Mali, Botswana, and South Africa. I also conduct methodological research to improve the measurement of violence and for developing ethical guidance for the conduct of high quality, ethical research, particularly among marginalised populations.

I am a Co-Director of LSHTM’s Gender Violence and Health Centre, and co-lead the adolescence theme for LSHTM’s Centre for Maternal Adolescent and Child Health (MARCH). I also sit on the high-risk observational study ethics board of LSHTM.