Aubrey Cunnington

Professor Aubrey Cunnington is Head of the Section of Paediatric Infectious Disease at Imperial College London and an Honorary Consultant at St Mary's Hospital. His research focuses on host-pathogen interactions in severe malaria and developing diagnostic tools for infectious diseases in Africa. He leads the NIHR Global Health Research Group on Digital Diagnostics for African Health Systems and contributes to the EU Horizon 2020 DIAMONDS consortium.

Education:

• PhD, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (2008–2012)
• DTM&H, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (2005)
• BMBCh, University of Oxford (1994–2000)
• MA, University of Oxford (1994–1997)

His research integrates clinical studies, transcriptomics, and experimental models to understand why certain individuals develop severe malaria. Current projects emphasize point-of-care diagnostics for resource-limited settings, particularly targeting malaria and febrile illnesses in African children.

Recent publications (2023–2025) demonstrate a strong focus on: malaria pathogenesis, host immune responses, molecular diagnostics for pediatric infections, and translational applications of transcriptomics. Over 75% of articles involve multi-center collaborations and address global health challenges.

Leadership in Grants & Consortia:

• Principal Investigator: NIHR Global Health Research Group (Digital Diagnostics for Africa)
• Co-lead: EU Horizon 2020 DIAMONDS consortium (personalized febrile illness management)
• Former Co-convener: Imperial College Network of Excellence in Malaria (100+ researchers)

He directs a research group using molecular and clinical approaches to investigate severe infections. The team collaborates extensively with African institutions through the Digital Diagnostics initiative to deploy novel diagnostic technologies.