Professor Stephen Allen joined Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM) in September 2014, aiming to further develop research and teaching in global child health. Between September 2021-2023, Steve was based at the Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital, Banjul, The Gambia supporting post-graduate training in paediatrics and building capacity for clinical research as chair of the hospital’s Research Ethics Committee and as Visiting Professor in Paediatrics, School of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences, University of The Gambia. He is also an Honorary Consultant Paediatrician at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, Liverpool where the main aims are to advance clinical research in paediatric gastroenterology and help develop the hospital’s international programme.

Steve was the Overseas Director for Africa from 2006-11 and then International Officer and David Baum Fellow of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, UK from 2011-2015. He was the Secretary of the Commonwealth Association of Paediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition from 2019-2025 and remains on the Advisory Committee.

Previously, Steve was Professor in Paediatrics and International Health at the College of Medicine, Swansea University and Honorary Consultant Paediatrician, Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Health Board, UK where he established the Swansea-Gambia Link. He also undertook research, clinical practice and teaching with the Medical Research Council Laboratories, The Gambia (now The Medical Research Council Unit The Gambia at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine).

Steve’s main interests are in paediatric gastroenterology and nutrition. Recent clinical trials evaluated pro- and synbiotics to improve gut health, reduce systemic inflammation and promote growth and development in western Kenya and Senegal. He leads the Gut Health Workstream of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Action Against Stunting Hub which assesses how poor gut health contributes to poor growth and development in birth cohorts Senegal, India and Indonesia.

The potential role of an intestinal absorbent in acute childhood diarrhoea was assessed recently in the Gambia and will also be assessed as a novel intervention for disorders of gut-brain interaction in children in a UK two-centre study.

Previously, he has undertaken clinical research in probiotics in the prevention of atopy in infants, antibiotic-associated diarrhoea in older people in the UK, malaria and also the protective effect of inherited haemoglobin and red cell variants against malaria with the Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Oxford and Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research.

Steve was the Chair of the Joint British Society of Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition and National Institute for Health and Care Research -Children Gastroenterology Hepatology and Nutrition Research Working Group from 2013-18, UK Research and Innovation Medical Research Council Population and Systems Medicine Board member from 2021-24. Steve is a current member of the North West Regional Advisory Committee for the National Institute for Health and Care Research, Research for Patient Benefit Programme. He is on the editorial board for Nutrients, Paediatrics and International Child Health and Malaria journals.