I am an interdisciplinary social scientist and jointly appointed as an Associate Professor in the social science of global and adolescent health and as head of the social determinants of health portfolio at the MRC/UVRI & LSHTM Uganda Research Unit in Entebbe, Uganda where I lead a team of 60 inter-disciplinary social scientists.

I am recognised for specialisms in the qualitative evaluation of complex violence prevention interventions and formative research on the contextual and structural drivers of violence. I led the qualitative evaluation of the SASA! Study, a cluster randomised controlled trial conducted in Kampala, Uganda, and the Good School Study, a randomised controlled trial of a school-based violence prevention intervention conducted in Luwero, Uganda.

My research focuses on low- and middle-income country contexts where I have conducted impact evaluations and formative research in countries including Uganda, Tanzania, Mali, Botswana, and South Africa. I also conduct methodological research to improve the measurement of violence and for developing ethical guidance for the conduct of high quality, ethical research, particularly among marginalised populations.

I am a Co-Director of LSHTM’s Gender Violence and Health Centre, and co-lead the adolescence theme for LSHTM’s Centre for Maternal Adolescent and Child Health (MARCH). I also sit on the high-risk observational study ethics board of LSHTM.