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Blizard Institute - Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry

Global Child Health Research

Professor Andrew Prendergast’s group has a focus on the interaction between infection, immunity and malnutrition, particularly in the context of HIV infection. They are an interdisciplinary group of scientists and clinicians, joined in a commitment to improve global child health.

Research Background

  • Undernutrition contributes to 45% of child deaths in developing countries, yet we do not fully understand the pathophysiology of malnutrition, or the best interventions for prevention and treatment.
  • Stunting is the most prevalent form of undernutrition, affecting 165 million children under 5 years of age globally, and there are ambitious targets to reduce prevalence by 40% between 2010 and 2025. However, due to population growth, the absolute number of stunted children in sub-Saharan Africa is likely to increase and we lack understanding of the most tractable pathways to target for prevention.
  • Severe acute malnutrition (wasting) affects an estimated 52 million children under 5 years of age and has particularly high mortality in the context of HIV infection. The pathophysiology of severe acute malnutrition in HIV-infected children is not well understood but urgent new interventions are needed to reduce the 30% mortality associated with this condition.

Professor Prendergast divides his time between London, where he is based at the Blizard Institute, and Zimbabwe, where he is director of Zvitambo Institute for Maternal and Child Health Research. The Prendergast group enjoy working closely with colleagues and collaborators in sub-Saharan Africa, including Zimbabwe, Zambia and Kenya. At any given time, the team are working across several ambitious studies, with funders including NIHR, MRC, Wellcome, Barts Charity and more.

The Prendergast Team, May 2023
The Prendergast Team, May 2023



QMUL Staff

Key Collaborators in Zimbabwe

  • Dr Mutsa Bwakura
    Associate Professor, Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, University of Zimbabwe
  • Wadzanai Mufukari
    Specialist Paediatrician and QMUL PhD student
  • Bernard Chasekwa
    Medical Statistician and QMUL PhD student

Address

Centre for Genomics and Child Health
Blizard Institute
Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry
Queen Mary University of London
4 Newark St
London E1 2AT

Office Phone: +44 020 7882 2800
Email: Isabella Cordani at i.cordani@qmul.ac.uk

Prendergast group website

Current Studies

COMBI

Co-SAM

SHINE

CGDEL

Past Studies

HOPE SAM

ARROW

REALITY

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