Kate Gallagher

Kate Gallagher is an Associate Professor in the Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology and International Health at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), Faculty of Epidemiology and Population Health. She is also based at the KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme in Kenya where she leads vaccine trials and epidemiological research.

Her educational background includes a PhD focusing on Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine delivery in low- and middle-income countries, with fieldwork conducted in Tanzania. During her PhD, she was based at the Mwanza Intervention Trials Unit for two years and aided the rapid setup of a Phase 1 Ebola Vaccine trial during the West African epidemic. Her first post-doctoral position was as a London-based coordinator of the EBOVAC project at LSHTM.

Dr. Gallagher's research interests span infectious disease epidemiology with a focus on vaccine research, including pre-licensure and post-licensure vaccine trials, and post-introduction surveillance and evaluation projects. Her work particularly emphasizes pneumococcal conjugate vaccines, HPV vaccines, Ebola vaccines, and SARS-CoV-2 epidemiology. She has conducted significant research in Kenya, Tanzania, Sierra Leone, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, with additional collaborations in Uganda and Ethiopia.

Her recent research has focused on fractional dosing of pneumococcal conjugate vaccines, SARS-CoV-2 serosurveillance, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on healthcare systems in multiple African countries. Her work combines clinical trials, observational studies, and mixed-methods approaches to generate evidence for vaccine policy.

• Fellow of the Advance Higher Education Academy (FHEA, Advance HE UK)
• ORCID identifier: 0000-0002-5604-7647

Dr. Gallagher supervises two PhD students working on relationships between pneumocococcal vaccine coverage, bacterial carriage, and invasive disease in Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of Congo. She has received multiple research grants including funding from NIHR, Wellcome Trust, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and UKRI. Her current major grant is the NIHR Global Health Research Group on Vaccines to Control Respiratory Pathogens & AMR across Africa (VacAMR), running from 2024-2028.

She is actively involved in multiple research collaborations across Africa, including partnerships with the UVRI/MRC & LSHTM unit in Uganda, COMAHS in Sierra Leone, and INRB in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Her work has significant policy implications for vaccine introduction and delivery in resource-limited settings.