The MRC Unit The Gambia at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (MRCG at LSHTM) will play a central leadership role in a £5 million international research programme. This programme aims to better understand and fight Group A Streptococcus (Strep A), a common bacteria that causes illnesses including sore throat and skin infections. Strep A can lead to severe invasive disease or trigger complications such as rheumatic heart disease (RHD).
RHD disproportionately affects children and young adults, especially in vulnerable communities. Despite its significant global burden, there is currently no licensed vaccine for Strep A. Understanding how the immune system responds after exposure, particularly during early life, is critical for future vaccine development and disease prevention. The study will investigate how early-life exposure to Strep A shapes immunity and contributes to heart disease.
A major component of the study will be the establishment of a new birth cohort in The Gambia. Infants will be followed from birth through their first two years of life, providing researchers with an opportunity to study how repeated exposure to Strep A during early childhood affects immune system development. This will help researchers understand why natural immunity to Strep A may develop poorly during early life.
The study will also investigate which immune responses provide protection against infection and whether early biological responses may explain why some children later develop complications such as rheumatic heart disease. The research programme brings together researchers from MRCG at LSHTM, the University of Sheffield in the UK, the University of Auckland in New Zealand, the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute in Australia, and Institute Pasteur in France.
Funded through a Wellcome Discovery Award, the seven-year programme will combine long-term clinical and epidemiological studies with advanced immunology, proteomics, and mathematical modelling. The research will build on ongoing studies in The Gambia, Uganda, and Malawi, where more than 22,000 children are being screened for early signs of rheumatic heart disease.
In addition to research, the programme will strengthen scientific expertise and leadership in Africa, with advanced training for early career researchers in immunology, serology, epidemiology, and data science. Dr. Eunice Kiamba, Research Fellow at MRCG at LSHTM and Co-Investigator co-leading the cellular immunology component, expressed her delight in contributing to this important programme.
The programme is expected to transform the lives of children in The Gambia and beyond by preventing this bacterial infection and sparing them from serious illness and the lifelong consequences of rheumatic heart disease. According to Professor Ed Clarke, Principal Investigator and Unit Director of MRCG at LSHTM, this study aims to understand how exposure to Strep A in early life programmes the immune system and may result in protection from infection or the development of immune-mediated rheumatic heart disease.
Key points
- MRCG at LSHTM leads a £5m global study on Strep A to understand its link to heart disease.
- The study will establish a new birth cohort in The Gambia to investigate how early-life exposure to Strep A affects immune system development.
- The programme will strengthen scientific expertise and leadership in Africa through advanced training for early career researchers.
