Vaccinology Master’s Level Course in Africa held at the MRCG at LSHTM

The Medical Research Council Unit The Gambia at LSHTM, in partnership with the Jenner Institute, University of Oxford hosted the Vaccinology in Africa course from 29th April to 3rd May 2019, at the Ocean Bay Hotel and Resort. The host academic leaders for the course were Prof. Beate Kampmann, Theme Leader for Vaccines & Immunity […]

MRC Unit The Gambia at LSHTM Hosts Workshop on HPC Platform

A group of biostatisticians and genomics researchers have completed a one-day workshop on ‘Introduction to parallel programming in R on the High Performance Computing platform (Mendy) at the Fajara campus of the MRC Unit The Gambia at LSHTM. The workshop, organised by the IT and Statistics departments, was presented by Dr. David Jeffries, Lead Statistician […]

MRC Unit The Gambia at LSHTM Hosts Prof. Fiona Watt, MRC Executive Chair

The Executive Chair of the Medical Research Council, Professor Fiona Watt visited the MRC Unit The Gambia at LSHTM from the 23rd to 25th April 2019.  Professor Watt is also the Director of the Centre for Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine at King’s College London. During her visit, which also marked her first time in […]

MRCG AT LSHTM Holds Open Days in North Bank Region for the PRECISE Study in The Gambia

The Medical Research Council Unit The Gambia at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine has concluded a series of Open Days on the PREgnancy Care Integrating Transitional Science, Everywhere (PRECISE) Study. The sessions, which sought to raise community awareness about the study, were held in Farefenni, Ngayen Sanjal, and Illiassa from 1st to […]

Effects of Childhood Adversity on Brain Development

Global health research has previously been limited to the use of behavioural assessments to measure the effect of exposure to early socio-economic and health challenges. A team of developmental psychologists from Birkbeck is currently carrying out a project in The Gambia, which uses portable, low-invasive, low-cost brain imaging techniques to improve understanding of the impact […]

Respiratory infections are a previously unsuspected cause of iron deficiency

Findings could re-orientate global programmes to prevent iron deficiency anemia According to new research published in Science Advances, researchers in The Gambia have uncovered a hitherto unknown relationship between respiratory infections and iron deficiency in children living in poor environments. According to the latest global burden of disease estimates, iron deficiency (ID) and its consequent […]

World TB Day: A Look Back at the MRCG at LSHTM’s Participation at the 49th Union World Conference on Lung Health at The Hague

World Tuberculosis (TB) Day is commemorated on March 24th each year. This year, activities are organised under the global theme “Wanted: Leaders for a TB-free world”. For the MRC Unit The Gambia at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, it is an opportunity to celebrate our achievements and contributions, and reflect on innovative research strategies to […]

Kevin Opondo has been awarded a Science and Language Mobility Scheme Africa Grant

Kevin Opondo is a postdoctoral fellow at DELTAS Africa-funded Malaria Research Capacity Development (MARCAD) fellowship. He is based at the Disease Control and Elimination Theme at the Medical Research Council Unit The Gambia at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He holds a PhD in tropical medicine- entomology/epidemiology, from The University of Liverpool […]

Secrets of early life revealed from less than half a teaspoon of blood

Pioneering technology could pave the way for improved newborn vaccines. A global team of scientists have mapped the developmental pathway of a newborn’s life for the first time. The research, published in Nature Communications, could transform our understanding of health and disease in babies. Co-led by the MRC Unit The Gambia at the London School […]