Meet our team

Dr Caroline Ackley
Research Fellow in Medical Anthropology

Caroline’s research lies in medical anthropology with a focus on neglected tropical diseases, women’s health, and community health.  She is interested in using participatory and creative methods to engage individuals and communities in health dialogue.

c.ackley@bsms.ac.uk 

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Gemma Aellah
Research Fellow in Medical Anthropology

Gemma is interested in developing creative ways to communicate anthropology knowledge. She is co-author of a workbook for global health researchers which encourages open discussion of ethical challenges when conducting research across inequalities. Gemma is part of The Social Sciences for Severe Stigmatising Skin Conditions (5S) Foundation at BSMS. 

G.Aellah@bsms.ac.uk

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Dr Kate Alford
Research Fellow in HIV and Neurology

Dr Kate Alford is a research fellow in HIV and Neurology with an interest in cognitive impairment and mental health in people living with HIV (PLWH). She works within Prof Jaime Vera’s HIV Aging and Comorbidities research group at BSMS and at the Lawson Unit at University Hospitals Sussex (UHS).

K.Alford3@bsms.ac.uk

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Dr Leena Al-Hassan 
Senior Research Fellow In Global Health

Leena's main areas of research are the characterisation of antibiotic resistance of hospital-acquired infections; and the identification of epidemiological and generic characteristics among Gram-negative bacteria in low and middle-income countries.

L.Al-Hassan@bsms.ac.uk                                                                                                 

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Dr Diana Alcantara
Research Fellow  

Diana’s research focuses on understanding the immunopathogenesis of podoconiosis. Wider interests include immunology, neglected tropical diseases, and genetic disorders.

D.Alcantara@bsms.ac.uk

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Dr Vasso Anagnostopoulou
Research Fellow in Medical Statistics

Vasso joined BSMS in 2019 supporting the research activities of the NIHR Global Health Research Unit for Neglected Tropical Diseases and the NIHR 5S Foundation as a statistician and data manager.

V.Anagnostopoulou@bsms.ac.uk

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Dr Saeideh Babashahi
Research Fellow in Health Economics

Saeideh is a trained health economist with research interests in cost analysis, cost of illness analysis, health economic evaluation and modelling and using multi-criteria decision analysis for decision-making and priority-setting, particularly in the healthcare system. Saeideh’s past and current research work include HIV, TB, non-communicable diseases, non-medical prescribing, social care, climate change, and health provider payment mechanisms in the UK, African countries, New Zealand and Iran.

s.babashahi@bsms.ac.uk

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Dr Fiona Cresswell
NIHR Academic Clinical Lecturer

Fiona's research focuses on improving HIV treatment in sub-Saharan Africa and reducing mortality from advanced HIV disease. She is also interested in injectable antiretroviral therapy and is a site principal investigator for the CARES study – a phase III clinical trial investigating injectable cabotegravir and rilpivirine in Africa.

F.Cresswell@bsms.ac.uk

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Lizzie Cross

E.L.Cross@bsms.ac.uk

Prof Gail Davey
Professor Of Global Health Epidemiology

Gail is a medical epidemiologist specialising in skin-related Neglected Tropical Diseases. Her current research focus is on providing the evidence base for global elimination of podoconiosis.

G.Davey@bsms.ac.uk 

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Dr Bethany Davies
Senior Lecturer (Hon Cons) in Infection

Bethany is the Head of Education for the department. She specialises in Medical Education and making sure undergraduate and postgraduate students receive the best teaching experience on Global Health and Infection issues.

B.Davies@bsms.ac.uk 

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Dr Kebede Deribe
Affiliate to the Global Health and Infection Department

Kebede’s work focuses on the Global Mapping of Podoconiosis, spatial epidemiology, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), neglected tropical diseases and modelling.

K.Deribe@bsms.ac.uk

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Mrs Alice Ellis
Assistant Administrator in the Global Health and Infection Department

a.ellis@bsms.ac.uk

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Dr Chi Eziefula
Senior Lecturer (Hon Cons) in Infection

Chi is a malaria researcher focusing on Malaria Epidemiology, Clinical Trials and interventions to block malaria transmission. Her wider interests include Migrant Health, Tropical Diseases and Women’s Global Health.

C.Eziefula@bsms.ac.uk 

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Prof Abe Fekadu
Clinical Professor (Honorary Consultant) in Global Mental Health

Abe's research interests are in clinical trials, complex interventions, mood disorders and knowledge translation.

abe.wassie@kcl.ac.uk 

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Grit Gansch
Global Health Research Finance Officer 

Grit provides financial support to the NIHR Unit on Neglected Tropical Diseases. She has a background in accounting with experience in both private and public sector.

G.Gansch@bsms.ac.uk 

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Esther Garibay
Research Communications Manager

Esther’s work focuses on coordinating the Wellcome Trust Brighton and Sussex Centre for Global Health research activities, as well as helping with communication and public engagement for the department and the Footwork project. 

E.Garibay@bsms.ac.uk

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Dr Anne Gatuguta 
Senior Lecturer in Global Health, Course Leader for MSc in Global Health

Anne is a mixed methods researcher whose work is largely focused on understanding barriers to healthcare access, adherence to treatment and uptake of preventive health interventions such as screening and interventions delivered by lay health workers. 

A.Gatuguta@bsms.ac.uk

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Victoria Hall
Research Fellow in Medical Anthropology 

Victoria Hall is a Socio-Cultural and Medical Anthropologist with a BA from the University of Cambridge, an MSc in Social and Cultural Anthropology (with a specialisation in Medical Anthropology) from the University of Oxford, and an MSc in Global Health from BSMS. She is currently in the final stages of her PhD in Social and Cultural Anthropology at the University of Cambridge. During her PhD, Victoria specialised in concepts of self, personhood, ontology, cosmology, and religious pluralism in the Himalayan region of north India. This was placed within a framework of interests in the ethical and moral, health and practices of care, expressive form and perceptions of the embodied self, and socio-political and socio-economic differences and/or difficulties amongst migrant, refugee, and socially vulnerable groups. 

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Dr Natalia Ivashikina 
Senior Lecturer in Global Health Economics 

Natalia has an interest in neglected tropical diseases, economic evaluations in low- and middle-income countries, methodology of clinical trials and standardising economic outcomes. Her research covers all stages of planning and executing economic evaluations, such as undertaking systematic literature review, data collection, statistical data analyses and economic modelling. 

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Prof Collins Iwuji
Professor of Global Health and HIV Medicine

Collins’ broad research interest is on HIV treatment outcomes in resource-constrained settings and sexually transmitted infections. He is particularly interested in the use of ART for the prevention of sexual transmission of HIV having undertaken the first population-based clinical trial in the world evaluating the impact of ART on HIV incidence in rural South Africa. 

C.Iwuji@bsms.ac.uk 

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Rachel Jackson
Project Support Officer

Rachel supports the research activities of two major NIHR funded research projects in Neglected Tropical Diseases in the Department for Global Health and Infection.

R.Jackson@bsms.ac.uk

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Dr Sohail Jannesari
Lecturer in Global Health

Sohail is interested in the intersection between migration, colonialism and mental health, and has used a postcolonial lens to examine the violence of the asylum process as well as people’s resistance to it. 

S.Jannesari@bsms.ac.uk

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Prof Martin Llewelyn
Professor of Infectious Diseases

Martin’s research is focused on the common, life-threatening infections which affect patients in the NHS, in particular on healthcare associated and antibiotic resistant pathogens such as Staphylococcus aureus and Clostridium difficile. 

M.J.Llewelyn@bsms.ac.uk 

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Jo Middleton 
Research Fellow

Jo Middleton is a biologist trained in medical and veterinary acarology. He collaborates with research in Life Sciences at the University of Sussex and Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences at University of Brighton. Much of Jo’s research and teaching involves interrelated work at two very different scales, that of microscopic parasites (specifically acarines) and that of Planetary Health.

J.Middleton@bsms.ac.uk

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Debbie Miller
Senior Departmental Administrator 

Debbie provides day-to-day support to all admin activities for the department as well as being a PA to Professors Melanie Newport and Gail Davey. She is the go-to person for any practical advice. 

d.miller@bsms.ac.uk 

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Dr Papreen Nahar
Senior Research Fellow (Medical Anthropology and Global Health) 

Papreen's research areas include health inequalities, health and social exclusion, health and marginality, neglected tropical diseases, stigma and antimicrobial resistance.

P.Nahar@bsms.ac.uk

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Prof Melanie Newport
Professor of Infectious Diseases and Global Health

Melanie’s main area of research is genetic regulation of immune responses and susceptibility to infectious disease, infant immune responses to vaccination, mycobacterial infection and susceptibility to podoconiosis (endemic non-filarial elephantiasis).

M.J.Newport@bsms.ac.uk

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Dr James Price
Senior Lecturer and Honorary Consultant in Infection

Dr James Price took up the position of Senior Lecturer at Brighton and Sussex Medical School and Honorary Consultant in Infection at University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust in 2022 where he pursues his interests in translational application of data and novel technologies to inform on prediction and prevention of healthcare-associated infection and antimicrobial resistance. 

j.price@bsms.ac.uk

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Dr Maya Semrau
Research Fellow in Implementation

Maya’s current work at BSMS is on an implementation research study to integrate and scale-up a holistic care package involving physical and psychosocial interventions for people with podoconiosis in Ethiopia. 

M.Semrau@bsms.ac.uk 

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Hope Simpson
Research Fellow

h.simpson@bsms.ac.uk

Dr Mei Trueba
Senior Lecturer in International Development and Global Health

Mei’s research focus is in international development, labour relations and health; in particular occupational health and safety in low-and middle-income countries. Her research also focuses on understanding health risk behaviours and their determinants.

m.trueba@bsms.ac.uk

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Professor Jaime Vera
Professor in HIV Medicine

Jaime has a research interest in ageing and HIV focusing on the study of comorbidities affecting people with HIV, service development for older people with HIV, and interventional studies that aimed to improve quality of life, and well-being of patients with HIV in both low and high income settings.

j.vera@bsms.ac.uk

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Professor Simon Waddell
Senior Lecturer in Microbial Pathogenesis

Simon’s research is on tuberculosis: TB pathogenesis, TB drug discovery, transcriptional profiling and host-pathogen interactions. He is also the head of Lab for the department.

S.Waddell@bsms.ac.uk

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Jenni Wilburn
Global Health Programme Manager

J.Wilburn@bsms.ac.uk

Professor Shahaduz Zaman
Reader in Medical Anthropology and Global Health

Zaman is interested in ethnographic exploration of health and illness of marginalised, excluded and vulnerable populations. Other interest topics include hospital ethnography, socio-cultural aspects of communicable and non-communicable diseases, death dying and end of life, refugee health and the role of art in health interventions.

s.zaman@bsms.ac.uk 

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