Professor Jay Berkley is the founder and co-Director of the Childhood Acute Illness & Nutrition (CHAIN) Network of partners in Africa (Kenya, Uganda, Malawi, Burkina Faso), South Asia (Pakistan, Bangladesh), UK, USA, Canada and the Netherlands. CHAIN aims to better understand infectious, immune, metabolic, nutritional, health systems and social pathways to childhood mortality to identify actionable interventions through an epidemiological cohort, ‘omics systems biology analysis pipeline, social science platform and a multicentre clinical trials platform.
The focus of Jay’s research is serious infection and survival in vulnerable groups of young infants and children, and I have spent 25 years based in Kenya at the KEMRI/Wellcome Trust Research Programme. He leads a large research group based in Kenya including 6 post-docs with 4 current PhD students and 14 completed PhDs addressing aetiology, clinical features and risks for mortality from infections in infants and children; antimicrobial resistance, immunology, metabolomics and proteomics; and clinical trials, including early phase trials, and large international multicentre phase III trials on antimicrobial and nutritional interventions, mostly in children with malnutrition and in neonates. Currently funded trials are focusing on risk-based strategies for antimicrobial treatment and post-discharge care or low-risk and high-risk for mortality children respectively. Current large surveillance projects focus on neonatal sepsis and AMR. Current lab projects focus on mechanisms underlying mortality and growth in relation to acute illness and the post-discharge period.
Jay is a member of several WHO committees and working groups: Strategic and Technical Advisory Group of Experts (STAGE) on Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health, and Nutrition (MNCAHN); Paediatric Clinical Trials Working Group (PCTWG); Paediatric Drug Optimization (PADO) Group; WHO Risk Stratification Working Group (WHO-RSWG); and Guidelines Development Group (GDG) member and session chair for malnutrition and he also chaired the data safety monitoring committee for 6 external clinical trials.