Amusa Wamawobe is a clinical microbiologist with six years’ experience in molecular biology and immunology. He holds a bachelor’s degree in biomedical laboratory technology from Makerere University Uganda and a bridged master’s degree in immunology and clinical microbiology from Makerere University Uganda and St. George’s University of London (Research). His master’s work involved studying K. pneumoniae strains associated with carriage and invasion through genomics and intestinal epithelial permeable tissue culture support system. K. pneumoniae remains the top pathogen for neonatal sepsis mortality globally, but currently, there are no vaccines for it. Amusa’s master’s research through genomics and immunology opened opportunities to potentially investigate K. pneumoniae vaccine candidates and identify molecular mechanisms of invasive strains.

Following this work, Amusa was recently awarded a PhD studentship in the National Institute for Health and Care Research Global Health Research Group on Vaccines to Control Respiratory Pathogens & AMR (VacAMR) grant. His studies are under the Department of Clinical Sciences at Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and the supervision of Associate Professor Kwambana Brenda and Professor Robert Heyderman. He is based at the Malawi Liverpool Trust Program in the pneumonia and meningitis pathogens group.

Amusa is focused on determining the longevity and strength of B cell immunity in protecting against S. pneumoniae lineages associated with longitudinal carriage and invasive pneumococcal disease African settings. His aim is to build African scientific rigor in vaccine efficacy and immunological assessments.

Infectious diseases remain among top causes of neonatal mortality in Africa, but diagnostics and vaccines gaps persist. Amusa wants to bridge these gaps through innovative immune-surveillance and genomics.

He used Luminex immunoassays to determine infant immunity against Group B Streptococcus by measuring maternal antibodies in Ugandan neonates’ blood, maternal breast milk, and serum alongside invasive Group B Streptococcus surveillance to inform current global immunization strategies. Amusa then developed his master’s thesis focused on K. pneumoniae maternal-neonatal carriage and invasiveness in Uganda. By using genomics and epithelial cell cultures, he identified lipopolysaccharide antigens O1 and O2 as frequent vaccine candidates, and higher adhesion rates of K. pneumoniae with ability to invade by penetrating and lysing intestinal epithelial barrier.

His current PhD focus is on leveraging immune-surveillance and diagnostics to optimise vaccine impact in Africa with the aim to build local capacity, assay platforms and policies that will lift vaccine Africa’s equity. He also hopes to use the network at Malawi-Liverpool-Wellcome Trust and LSTM to establish a research group dedicated to mucosa vaccine-induced immunity research in Africa and to mentor master’s and PhD students.