Jonathan Sturgeon

Jonathan Sturgeon is a Wellcome Clinical Research Fellow at the Centre for Genomics and Child Health within the Blizard Institute, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry at Queen Mary University of London. He conducts clinical research at the Zvitambo Institute of Maternal and Child Health Research in Harare, Zimbabwe, focusing on malnutrition and its effects on the gut and immune system in children. His work involves sub-studies of the HOPE-SAM and TAME trials, examining how gut-targeted therapies might improve outcomes for children with severe acute malnutrition.

Dr. Sturgeon's educational background includes:

• PhD candidate at Queen Mary University of London (December 2019 - present)
• MRCPCH (Member of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, February 2017)
• DTM&H (Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, August-November 2014)
• MBBS in Medicine from St George's University of London (September 2007 - July 2011)
• MA in Natural Sciences from Pembroke College, Cambridge (October 2004 - June 2007)

Dr. Sturgeon's primary research focuses on severe acute malnutrition (SAM) in children, particularly examining the relationship between gut function and immune system changes. Children with SAM experience significant structural and functional gut abnormalities, termed malnutrition enteropathy, characterized by small intestinal inflammation, abnormal villus architecture, increased gut permeability, and malabsorption. These gut changes allow bacterial translocation from the gut lumen into systemic circulation, inducing inflammation and blunting subsequent immune responses to pathogens. His research aims to understand how these pathogenic pathways impact mortality and nutritional recovery, with the goal of developing interventions to reduce inflammation and promote epithelial repair.

Dr. Sturgeon's publication record shows a strong focus on malnutrition, particularly severe acute malnutrition in children from low-resource settings. His work spans clinical trials, observational studies, and systematic reviews, with a significant portion examining the gut-immune axis. His recent work has increasingly focused on interventions targeting malnutrition enteropathy and their effects on inflammatory pathways. Much of his research involves collaborations across multiple African countries, particularly Zimbabwe and Zambia, reflecting his commitment to global health research. His findings demonstrate that inflammation persists for up to 48 weeks after hospital discharge despite nutritional recovery, and that growth factors indicative of endothelial and epithelial repair are associated with reduced mortality.

Dr. Sturgeon holds a prestigious Wellcome Trust clinical PhD fellowship, administered by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. This fellowship supports his research on malnutrition and its effects on the gut and immune system in children and is part of the Wellcome Clinical PhD Programme in Global Health Research run by the Bloomsbury Group.

Dr. Sturgeon is supervised by Prof Andrew Prendergast and Prof Paul Kelly for his Wellcome Trust clinical PhD fellowship. His research has been supported by the Wellcome Trust and involves collaborations with the Zvitambo Institute in Zimbabwe. He has successfully gained funding from Bart's Charity for previous research projects and has extensive experience with ethical approvals, study protocols, and Good Clinical Practice requirements. His NIHR Academic Clinical Fellowship examined gut-immune changes in children with non-critical infection, and his earlier NIHR Academic Foundation Programme investigated platelet effects on neutrophil function in cirrhosis.

Dr. Sturgeon is part of the Prendergast Group at the Blizard Institute, Queen Mary University of London. His research is conducted in collaboration with the Zvitambo Institute of Maternal and Child Health Research in Harare, Zimbabwe, where he works on the HOPE-SAM study and TAME trial. He is also affiliated with the Wellcome Clinical PhD Programme in Global Health Research, run by the Bloomsbury Group, which includes six universities in London and Brighton. His work bridges clinical practice and research, with a focus on improving outcomes for children suffering from severe malnutrition in resource-limited settings through understanding the pathophysiology of malnutrition enteropathy and developing targeted interventions.