Meet our speakers

Sally, a distinguished social scientist with a PhD in Gender, Health, and Development, boasts 25 years of expertise in collaborative research. Specializing in fortifying health systems and advancing equity, she focuses on informal urban settlements across Asia and Africa, notably within the GCRF ARISE hub. Amidst the challenges of COVID-19, Sally explores innovative approaches to address health and socio-economic impacts on urban dwellers. Her contributions extend to the NIHR-funded REDRESS program, FCDO-funded COUNTDOWN consortium, and the FCDO ReBUILD for Resilience program. A pivotal figure in teaching qualitative research, Sally actively guides students while fostering global partnerships for ethical, equitable, and resilient health systems.

Professor Steve Torr is a distinguished expert with over 30 years of experience in studying the behaviour and ecology of disease-carrying vectors, with a primary focus on tsetse flies and mosquitoes. He embarked on his academic journey with a Bachelor's degree in Zoology from Royal Holloway College in 1980, followed by a Master's in Applied Entomology from Imperial College in 1981. His career took a pivotal turn when he joined the Zimbabwe Tsetse and Trypanosomiasis Control Branch in 1981, where he delved into understanding the host-oriented behaviour of tsetse flies. This work laid the foundation for his Ph.D. at the University of London, which he obtained in 1987.

Throughout his career, Professor Torr has made significant contributions to the field, including pioneering the use of odour-baited targets for tsetse control. He has led research teams, developed innovative methods such as DNA markers to assess feeding patterns, and contributed to large-scale tsetse control operations in Africa.

In 2013, Professor Torr assumed the role of Professor in Neglected Tropical Diseases at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and The University of Warwick, where he continues his invaluable research as part of the Centre for Applied Health Research.

Adam Roberts, Reader and AMR Lead at Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, boasts over 20 years of expertise in researching transferable Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR). Since 2017, his focus has centered on translational AMR aspects, early-stage drug discovery, and One Health-related resistance drivers. His team explores novel antimicrobial products and resistance mechanisms within LSTM’s drug development pipeline. With over 100 peer-reviewed publications, Adam secures funding from prominent institutions like the Medical Research Council and Wellcome Trust. As the force behind The Transposon Registry and Swab and Send, an award-winning citizen-science project, he promotes public engagement. Adam also serves as the Network Coordinator for JPIAMR Network (NEAR-AMR) and advises the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene on Drug Resistance policy.

James, a Biochemistry PhD graduate, relocated to Liverpool in 2006 following academic roles at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth. Specializing in investigating helminth Phase II detoxification enzymes using diverse technologies, he expanded his research globally, emphasizing drug resistance in the liver fluke Fasciola hepatica. Joining LSTM in 2010, James, now a lectureship at the University of Liverpool, is the Director of Studies for two Masters programs, Chair of the Programmes Board, and a Learning & Teaching Committee member. Engaged in strategic teaching development, he combines fieldwork in Africa on helminth epidemiology with molecular and biochemical research at LSTM, contributing significantly to the institution's progress towards independent Higher Education Institute status. Committed to innovative teaching, James leads parasitology courses, ensuring LSTM students engage through various methods, including laboratory sessions, field courses, presentations, and research projects, locally and internationally.

Kondwani obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Technical Education from the University of Malawi in 2004 and a Master of Science in Human Immunity in 2006 from the University of Liverpool. He was then awarded the Commonwealth PhD Scholarship in 2007 and obtained a PhD in Tropical Medicine (Immunology) in 2011 from the University of Liverpool. His PhD included establishing the first Experimental Human Pneumococcal Carriage model in the UK, as well as investigating compartmentalisation of immunity and impact of HIV on lung immunity.

Upon completion of the PhD, he joined the Malawi-Liverpool-Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Programme (MLW) as a postdoctoral scientist and helped develop the MLW Immunology Laboratory.

He later pursued his second postdoctoral training at Cornell University (USA), investigating HIV infection of alveolar macrophages. In 2015, he was awarded the prestigious International Wellcome Intermediate Fellowship and returned to MLW to establish his research group.

Recently, Kondwani has been awarded the prestigious MRC/DFID African Research Leader Fellowship.

Amina works as a Community Mobiliser within the department of International Public Health. She has a MA in Education is a qualified Primary Teacher with experience working diverse communities in the UK and Middle East.

Amina currently supports a multidisciplinary Community Innovation Teams (CITs) working across deprived areas of Liverpool to identify reasons for vaccine hesitancy. She is working on the Liverpool Vaccine Equity Project taking lessons learned in the Global South and adapting them to suit the needs of communities in Liverpool. Amina's understanding of different communities has supported the CITs to develop resources and amplify local messages across different platforms to provide localised and personalised information regarding the COVID 19 vaccination from trusted sources. Her role includes Capacity Strengthening Community Innovation teams to develop data informed innovations to understand and address health inequity in Liverpool communities. She has supported the Community Innovation teams to write funding proposals and deliver targeted engagement events/strategies for communities with low vaccination uptake.

Prior to joining LSTM she worked as an Inclusion and Diversity lead in the Faculty of Education at Liverpool John Moores University. Amina has contributed to research identifying barriers experienced by BAME communities accessing higher education.

Kerry, Director at LSTM's Centre for TB Research, focuses on maximizing the impact of research from the LIGHT research program consortium, funded by UK aid. Led by LSTM, the consortium collaborates with partners in Kenya, Uganda, Malawi, and Nigeria to transform gendered pathways to health for tuberculosis. Additionally, Kerry contributes to the Knowledge, Evidence, and Learning for Development (K4D) program, funded by UK aid, supporting the use of learning and evidence to enhance the impact of development policies and programs. Formerly part of the HEART consortium, she provided knowledge and consultancy services, leveraging LSTM's expertise in health, nutrition, and education. Kerry's journey at LSTM began in 2010 after completing her DPhil at the University of Oxford in 2006 and her BSc Hons in Biochemistry at the University of Leeds in 2001.

DTM&H Alumna, Cordelle has worked for Manchester City Council for almost ten years and is currently the Director of Public Health.  She qualified as a doctor in 2001 and went on to practice as a GP before specialising in public health medicine. Her first-hand experience of facing health inequalities as a GP and her work for charities in the past inspired her passion for improving health equity. She has a special interest in race health equity and improving health for marginalised communities. 

She is currently leading the development and delivery of Making Manchester Fairer– the City of Manchester’s action plan for tackling health inequalities with a focus on the social determinants of health. Cordelle is an ardent advocate of physical activity or exercise for all, in a way that works within the context of people’s day to day lives, communities and culture.

She sees the way in which the way we enable all residents to stay active as important for addressing the city’s health inequalities, and also helping to bring people and communities together and socially connected and improving general wellbeing.

Studied medicine and immunology at University College London and Cambridge University before professional training in internal medicine, infectious diseases and respiratory medicine at the Royal London Hospital and the Royal Free Hospital. From 1992 to 1995 he was Head of the Department of Medicine, Kamuzu Central Hospital, Lilongwe, Malawi.

Since 1995, Bertie has been primarily based at LSTM. He collaborates with many individuals and organisations in a programme of multi-disciplinary applied health research aimed at providing knowledge for action in making health services for tuberculosis more accessible to poor people in Low & Middle Income Countries (particularly those affected by the HIV pandemic). Exemplifying this work, Bertie is Research Director of the LIGHT research programme consortium funded with UK aid from the UK government. This consortium is led by LSTM and working with partners in Kenya, Uganda, Malawi and Nigeria to transform gendered pathways to health for tuberculosis.

He holds an appointment in the UK National Health Service as Honorary Consultant in Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital and was President of the International Union Against Tuberculosis & Lung Disease from 2007 to 2011.

As a physician and NIHR Academic Clinical Lecturer in Infectious Diseases, I navigated my medical training in Liverpool, subsequently immersing myself in infection research across diverse settings—from the UK and sub-Saharan Africa to Latin America and even the muddy fields of Glastonbury and Reading Festivals. From 2012 to 2015, I pursued a PhD focused on preventing tuberculosis with the Innovation For Health And Development team in Lima, Peru. My research delved into the economic impact of accessing "free" TB care, highlighting the effectiveness of socioeconomic support, notably conditional cash transfers, in enhancing TB prevention and control. Ongoing projects include the assessment of long-term follow-up and acceptability in related studies, contributing to the Community Randomised Evaluation of a Socioeconomic Intervention to Prevent Tuberculosis (CRESIPT) study.

After completing undergraduate training at the University of Leeds, Tom pursued general duties in the Defence Medicine Services, followed by specialized training in Infectious Disease and General Internal Medicine in Liverpool. Seconded to the WHO's department of Pandemic and Epidemic Diseases before the 2013-15 EVD outbreak in West Africa, he played a pivotal role in revolutionizing Ebola case management. His Ph.D., supported by a Wellcome Trust fellowship, explored the interplay between immune response, viral load, and clinical course in Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever patients in Turkey. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Tom returned to the WHO clinical team, deploying to South Korea and supporting the UK NHS response. As a senior investigator in the AGILE trial platform, he leads AGILE International and the laboratory pillar, overseeing two early-phase trials of novel therapeutics in COVID-19 in the UK and South Africa. At LSTM, he co-directs the ACTIVE platform, focusing on High-Consequence Infectious Diseases, with active research programs in Turkey, Sudan, and West Africa.

Shaun, PhD in Infection and Immunity from the University of Liverpool, is a leading researcher in the dynamic realms of human immunity and pathogen interaction. Employing controlled human infection and advanced ex vivo models, his studies focus on disease pathogenesis and immune defense mechanisms. Committed to translational research, he champions the development of vaccines and therapeutic strategies. As a lecturer at LSTM, he imparts expertise in 'Pharmacodynamics' and the 'Immunology of Tropical Disease.' A member of the Royal Society of Biology, Shaun's multifaceted contributions signify a beacon in scientific exploration, education, and the pursuit of innovative healthcare solutions.

Justin completed a PhD in Behavioural Science at the University of Auckland, New Zealand in 2008. Prior to joining LSTM, Justin was a research fellow at the School of Population Health, University of Queensland, Australia on permanent secondment at the Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research (PNGIMR), Papua New Guinea (PNG).  While on secondment at the PNGIMR, Justin led the outcome and impact evaluation of the PNG National Malaria Control Program for the period 2010-2015 and was head of the PNGIMR’s Population Health and Demography Unit.

Justin’s current research activities focus on the design, measurement and evaluation of programmes designed to strengthen research capacity in low and middle income countries. In addition, he maintains a broad interest in implementation research designed to strengthen health systems, disease control programmes and community-based health improvement initiatives. 

Dr. Parry earned a BA(Hons) in Natural Sciences in 1980 and an MB BCh in 1984 from the University of Cambridge. He pursued training in Internal Medicine, Infectious Diseases, Clinical Microbiology, and Tropical Medicine in the UK and Malawi. Specializing in Clinical Microbiology, he completed the DTMH at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and obtained a PhD from the UK Open University. From 1995 to 2002, he worked at the Oxford Clinical Research Unit in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, and later in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Bangladesh. Between 2014 and 2016, he was based at the School of Tropical Medicine and Global Health, Nagasaki University, Japan. Dr. Parry serves as an NHS Consultant at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital and holds visiting professorships at the University of Oxford and the University of Nagasaki. Additionally, he directs the DTMH program at LSTM and contributes to postgraduate education in Nagasaki.

Dr Adrian Hopkins MBE, John Holt Prize recipient, is an ophthalmologist and expert in neglected tropical diseases, has decades of experience working across Africa delivering primary health care and ophthalmic services after completing his medical studies at St. Andrews University in Scotland in 1971.

From 2008-2016, he was Director of the Mectizan Donation Programme (MDP), which oversees the donation of the drug Mectizan for river blindness (onchocerciasis) and Mectizan and albendazole for lymphatic filariasis elimination in Africa. 

Dr. Kadia joined LSTM in October 2020 to provide clinical, research and organisational support to the Gut Health workstream of the UKRI GCRF Action Against Stunting Hub. He is a physician general practitioner with close to four years of experience in the organisation and delivery of general medical services in rural settings of Cameroon. He has also served as main contact local physician for US Peace Corps trainees in Cameroon and coordinator of diverse HIV programmes at health facility and community levels in rural Cameroon. Through a Chevening Scholarship, Dr. Kadia obtained an MSc in Public Health for Development at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine in 2019. He possesses remarkable skills in research design and analysis, evidence review and synthesis, design and evaluation of disease control programs, epidemiology and control of communicable diseases, statistical methods in epidemiology and applying public health principles in developing countries.

Dr. Kadia is profoundly interested in initiatives that aim to enhance clinical research and teaching in low-income settings. He has presented at diverse international conferences including the European Congress on Tropical Medicine & International Health and the Oxford Global Health Congress. He is an abstract mentor for the International AIDS Society Conference, the world’s largest meeting on HIV/AIDS. He is also peer reviewer for diverse world leading journals.

Stephen completed his medical degree at the University of Sheffield in 2009 before undertaking his Foundation Training in Derriford Hospital, Plymouth. He finished his Core Medical Training in the West Midlands Deanery and began working at the Royal Liverpool Hospital to commence his higher specialist training in Tropical Medicine and Medical Microbiology. He attended LSTM in 2017 and completed the DTM&H.

Stephen is also a full-time regular medical officer in the Royal Navy, previously deploying on ships and submarines.

Stephen commenced a MD in Feb 2020 working in collaboration with Professor James McCarthy's Group at QIMR Berghofer, Brisbane, Australia- utilising malaria volunteer infection studies (VIS) in Phase 1 therapeutic and vaccine discovery. He was a sub-investigator in 5 clinical malaria VIS. Stephen also developed an interest in anaemia as a consequence of malaria.

Stephen has given lectures and assisted in workshops on the DTM&H programme over the past 3 years.

Professor Casewell is a graduate of the University of Liverpool, holding a BSc in Tropical Disease Biology, with additional studies at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. His interest in snake venom research sparked during this time, leading to a PhD at Bangor University focusing on saw-scaled viper venoms and antivenoms.

Recognized for his research, he was a finalist for the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution’s Walter M. Fitch Award in 2011. Following his PhD, he served as Antivenom Manager at MicroPharm Limited, collaborating with the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine.

Awarded an Independent Research Fellowship by the Natural Environment Research Council in 2012, he explored fish venom evolution at Bangor University. Joining the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine in 2014 as a Lecturer, he advanced to Senior Lecturer in 2016.

In 2016, he received a Sir Henry Dale Research Fellowship from the Wellcome Trust and Royal Society for snakebite treatment development. Appointed to a proleptic Chair in Tropical Disease Biology in 2019, he has published extensively and serves on editorial boards for scientific journals. His research is funded by prestigious organizations including the Wellcome Trust, the Royal Society, and others.

David Molyneux, a distinguished figure in tropical medicine, has dedicated over 50 years to researching and combating neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). Initially focused on trypanosomiasis and leishmaniasis, he explored the interplay between parasites and vectors in Nigeria and led a multi-country WHO/UNDP program on sleeping sickness in Burkina Faso.

Transitioning into advisory roles, Molyneux provided expertise to WHO on various diseases including trypanosomiasis, onchocerciasis, lymphatic filariasis, Guinea worm, and malaria. He supervised over 50 Ph.D. and Master’s students and contributed to literature on biodiversity and infectious diseases.

As Director of the Lymphatic Filariasis Support Centre, later the LSTM Centre for Neglected Tropical Diseases, Molyneux championed NTD control and elimination, earning him a Companion to the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George (CMG) in 2020. He holds emeritus positions at the University of Liverpool and the School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, where he served as Director from 1991 to 2000.

A Cambridge University graduate in parasitology, Molyneux's extensive research garnered him a DSc from the University of Salford. He advised organizations like WHO, chaired WHO committees, and led international certification teams.

Recognized for his contributions, Molyneux received numerous awards, including the Manson Medal and Chalmers Medal, and was named an Honorary International Fellow by the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. He continues to advocate for NTDs globally, recently editing a series of talks by NTD leaders.