Alumni
We are very proud of the number of previous fellows who have remained in Liverpool, working in various capacities as they aim to become leaders in their chosen fields. Our alumni include senior academics colleagues at both Tthe University of Liverpool and The Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, and those who have recently completed the Wellcome Trust Clinical PhD Programme and gone to academic positions themselves.
Our alumni
Our Clinical PhD Programme Alumni
2008 Intake
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Dr Chris Moxon
Chris returned from three years in Malawi focusing his PhD on the role of coagulation in the pathogenesis of cerebral malaria, specifically looking at thrombin generation and its modulation by the protein C pathway and how this pathway influences inflammation and sequestration. Chris is now a Clinical Lecturer in Paediatric Infectious Diseases at the University of Liverpool. Read more about Chris’ project in the November 2012 edition of EuroFocus:Health.
Click to see more information about Chris' work and research outputs.
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Dr Derek Sloan
Derek returned from three years in Malawi, where he was interested in the treatment of tuberculosis (TB). His PhD addressed pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic (PK-PD) aspects of current first line drug therapy; particularly focusing on laboratory techniques which may identify drug-tolerant organisms and generate early biomarker profiles of treatment response valuable for routine practice and clinical trials. Derek has now taken a senior lecturer post at The Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine.
Click to see more information about Derek's research outputs.
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Dr Jamie Rylance
Jamie is a specialist trainee in Respiratory medicine with an interest in infectious disease and medicine in the developing world. He has investigated the relationship between pulmonary redox balance and innate antibacterial defences. He is specifically interested in oxidative stress in the lung caused by indoor air pollution, and how antioxidant balance (particularly selenium dependent enzymes) may ameliorate harmful effect. Jamie returned to the UK and has taken up a Clinical Lecturer position in respiratory medicine at the University of Liverpool - Aintree Hospital.
Click to see more information about Jamie's work and research outputs.
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2009 Intake
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Dr Emma Wall
Dr Wall is a specialty registrar training in infectious diseases and tropical medicine, most interested in serious CNS infections, and the how the host-pathogen interaction affects outcome in different individuals. Dr Wall is conducting a study in Blantyre, Malawi that recruits adults with meningitis, and adopts the ‘sepsis bundle’ concept to optimise the basic interventions that currently are available and are not being used appropriately. She focuses on giving the core, basic emergency management to adults presenting with symptoms or signs of meningitis quickly and effectively, with the aim of reducing the mortality from meningitis by 20%. If the bundle approach is successful then this will hopefully lead to a much larger cluster randomised study throughout Southern Africa. During the course of the study Dr Wall will also use the opportunity to work with experts at the MLW centre to study the pathogenesis of meningitis in these patients to improve our understanding of this terrible condition, and which will hopefully lead to further interventions to reduce the incidence and mortality further.
Dr Wall has recently returned to the UK to complete her thesis.
Click to see more information about Emma's work and research outputs.
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Dr Laura Benjamin
Dr Laura Benjamin is a specialist trainee in Neurology with an interest in global health. She has been studying stroke aetiology and risk factors in Malawi. She is particularly interested in the relationship of HIV infection and stroke and its influence in the development and outcome of stroke; testing the hypothesis that individuals with HIV infection are at an increased risk of stroke. Dr Benjamin returned from Malawi to complete her PhD and has recently taken up a clinical lectureship in neurology at the University of Liverpool.
Click to see more information about Laura's work and research outputs.
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2010 Intake
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Dr James Scriven
James trained at the University of Edinburgh and is a specialist trainee in Infectious Diseases and Tropical medicine. He has worked both in the UK and Australia and is interested in HIV, TB and neurological infections.
James has recommenced his clinical training and was awarded his PhD in July 2015.
Click to see more information about James' work and research outputs.
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Dr Philip Burgess
Philip is a specialist trainee in Ophthalmology with an interest in retinal disease. He trained at the University of Edinburgh and obtained a BSc in Immunology. His PhD addresses the epidemiology of diabetic retinopathy in Sub-Saharan Africa and strategies for screening and treatment of the condition in the Malawian population. Dr Burgess has recently returned to the UK to complete his thesis.
Philip returned to the UK in August 2014, and was awarded his PhD in November 2015.
Click to see more information about Philip's work and research outputs.
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Dr Stephen Aston
Stephen is a specialist trainee in Infectious Diseases and General Medicine. He is interested in the pathophysiology of respiratory tract infection and how this may inform adjunctive therapies. His PhD project will focus on adults in Malawi with community-acquired pneumonia and seek to determine the reasons for poor early outcomes in this group. It will explore the nature of the host inflammatory response in patients with severe pneumonia with a view to informing a rational basis for adjunctive treatment. Dr Aston has recently returned from Malawi to complete his thesis.
Click to see more information about Stephen's work and research outputs.
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2011 intake
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Dr Stacy Todd
Stacy was a Wellcome Trust Clinical PhD Fellow and SpR in Infectious Disease and General (Internal) Medicine in Liverpool. Her broad research interests are epidemiology and dynamics of infections, and the design of interventions to limit transmission. She has previously worked on a phase III rotavirus vaccine trial in Malawi. She conducted her doctoral research in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam at the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit which is one of the Wellcome Trust's Major Overseas Programmes. Her PhD foucssed on determining estimates of influenza transmission at a population level and the effects of different vaccination strategies on clinical burden and disease dynamics. The project included mathematical modelling techniques as well as epidemiological field studies. Stacy was awarded her PhD in late 2016.
Click to see more information about Stacy's research outputs.
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Dr Danielle Cohen
Danielle is a specialist trainee in Infectious Diseases and General Medicine. She is interested in the epidemiological and public health aspects of infection in resource limited settings. Her PhD focussed on adults in Malawi who require repeat courses of treatment for tuberculosis. The project aimed to explore the reasons for poor outcomes in this group of people and to investigate the optimal mechanism for delivery of care. Dr Cohen returned from Malawi, and was awarded her PhD in late 2016.
Click to see more information about Danielle's research outputs.
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Dr Antonia Ho
Antonia's PhD addressed the epidemiology of influenza in HIV-infected and HIV-uninfected adults in Malawi. Dr Ho returned from Malawi and was awarded her PhD in late 2016.
Click to see more information about Antonia's esearch outputs.
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2012 intake
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Dr Cristina Ardura-García
Cristina is a specialty registrar in Paediatrics, with a special interest in tropical medicine and infectious diseases. She studied at the Autonoma University of Madrid, trained at the Hospital 12 of October in Madrid, and obtained an MSc in Tropical Paediatrics from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. She has been working in Ecuador for the last year and she is interested in studying risk factors and underlying mechanisms of paediatric asthma in Latin America. She is currently carrying out her doctoral research in Esmeraldas, Ecuador.
Click to see more information about Cristina's work and research outputs.
Email: cardura@liv.ac.uk
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Dr Hannah Jary
Hannah trained at Sheffield University and has worked in Sheffield and the Northern Deanery as an academic trainee. She is a specialist trainee in Respiratory Medicine and has an interest in the effects of exposure to biomass smoke on lung disease in sub-Saharan Africa. She has recently completed an MRes at the University of Liverpool, and is now located in Malawi.
Click to see more information about Hannah's work and research outputs.
Email: hannah.jary@liv.ac.uk
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Dr Christine Kelly
Christine graduated from the University of Manchester in 2006. As a student, she carried out attachments in Infectious Diseases at North Manchester General Hospital which inspired her towards her chosen career path of adult Infectious Diseases. She began working in the tropics in 2004 volunteering with a project based in rural Senegal which educated villagers on the prevention of HIV and malaria. She went on to lead this project in 2007. She moved to Liverpool to undertake core medical training and in 2009 and was successful in obtaining an Academic Clinical Fellowship with the Liverpool Brain Infection group. During this she initiated and carried out an original research study asking whether there is a relationship between HIV neurocognitive disorders and poor adherence to anti-retroviral therapy in Blantyre, Malawi. She is interested in exploring further research around immunological responses to HIV in Africa. Dr Kelly is currently in Malawi.
Click to see more information about Christine's work and research outputs.
Email: cmkelly7@liv.ac.uk
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