I am the Director for the Centre of Child and Adolescent Health Research and a Professor of Paediatric Neuroscience at the University of Sydney.

I was previously based at the University of Liverpool, UK, where I was Professor of Paediatric Neurosciences and an Honorary Paediatric Neurology Consultant working between the University and Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust.

My main research aim is to improve diagnosis, treatment and management of infection, with a focus on brain infections in children (and adults) across the UK and world-wide. My research Interests lie on the host responses to severe infection and inflammation, particularly neurological insults, with a focus on identifying diagnostic and prognostic markers as well as to better understand the role of host and pathogen responses in determining the outcome of brain infections. I use transcriptomic and proteomic approaches to explore these responses, both in patient populations and brain infection models.

I continue as PI/CI for several UK and international studies, including TRIM (TRanscripts Identifying Meningitis) and TREAT-ED (TRaumatic Encephalopathy Assessment Tools in the Emergency Department). To date, I have obtained >£20 million in grants as Principal or Co-Investigator. Funding sources for my work include the Medical Research Council (MRC), Newton fund, Wellcome Trust, HEIF, EU Horizon 2020, NIHR and Industry.

I have led and supported global and domestic collaborations within research (e.g. with Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia; University of California San Francisco; Aarlborg University, Denmark Amsterdam University Medical Centre, Netherlands); health (e.g. National Hospital for Tropical Diseases, Hanoi, Vietnam; Kathmandu Children’s Hospital, Nepal); third-sector (Sade Crianca and Union of Mothers with Angels, Brazil); and commercial organisations (e.g. Dam Health, Medtechtomarket, Abbott Health in the UK, Ugentec, Belgium; BlinkDx, Germany, Fast Track Diagnostics, Luxembourg). Alongside my industry engagement, I have filed and successfully secured intellectual property (IP).

In the UK, I served as an external advisor for several clinical, charity and research bodies, including the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE), British Paediatric Neurology Association (BPNA), and the Meningitis Research Foundation (MRF). I am a research panel member for Action Medical, the largest child focused research charity in the UK. I also served as a reviewer for other research funders, including MRC and Wellcome Trust.

I have published >100 research articles (>3700 citations; h-index 32), including peer-reviewed articles in Lancet, Lancet Child and Adolescent Health, Lancet Infectious Disease and Lancet Neurology and Acta Neuropathologica.

Internationally, I am an invited consultant for the World Health Organisation (WHO) and PATH. I am a co-developer and co-author of their global road map for ‘Defeating Meningitis by 2030’.