Our research activities include understanding the epidemiology, immunology, evolution and the disease burden of viral pathogens. We are currently investigating why rotavirus vaccines underperform in low-income settings. We are continuously assessing the effectiveness of Rotarix® rotavirus vaccine following its introduction into Malawi’s childhood immunisation program, determining the immune responses induced by rotavirus vaccination and rotavirus natural infection, deducing host factors that could be associated with vaccine responses, assessing the impact of rotavirus vaccine introduction on the circulating rotavirus strains, and also assessing the immunogenicity and efficacy of new rotavirus vaccines in Malawian children. In addition, we are investigating the origins and characterising the genetic epidemiology of SARS-CoV2 strains that are circulating in Malawi through nucleotide sequencing approaches.
Virology
