Junior Researcher under Salmonella and Enterics Research Group Esmelda Chirwa has been awarded funding to pursue a PhD in Infection and Global Health by the University of Liverpool (UoL) under Professor Melita Gordon’s NIHR fellowship. This is a joint 4-year PhD programme between UoL and COM, with effect from 1st April 2021. Her PhD project, which will be embedded within the SAiNTS study and will evaluate how nutrition and gut health influence the acquisition of immunity to non-typhoidal Salmonella following episodes of Salmonella gut exposure. She will be supervised by Professor Melita Gordon, Professor Neil French and Dr Tonney Nyirenda.
“I am truly honoured to have been offered this opportunity and absolutely grateful for the support rendered to me by my supervisors and colleagues both from within and without the Salmonella group”, said Esmleda Chirwa.
She joined MLW as a Pre-PhD physician trainee in January 2020 and completed her training in December 2020. She holds a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degree and a Master of Public Health degree from the College of Medicine (COM) and Glasgow Caledonian University, respectively.
During this training, she worked as a clinician for TyVAC. Thereafter, she transitioned to work as a clinician for another study in the Salmonella group, titled “Understanding the epidemiology of iNTS disease in Africa in preparation for future iNTS- vaccine studies in endemic countries (SAiNTS)”, whilst working on her PhD concept.
