November 29, 2023

Dr. Kirk Tickell joins the WHO Technical Advisory Group on Childhood Wasting and Oedema

Congratulations Dr. Kirk Tickell, MBBS, MPH, PhD, Acting Assistant Professor in the Department of Global Health, who recently joined the Research Sub-Working Group of the WHO Technical Advisory Group on Childhood Wasting and Oedema that advises on important research questions and prioritization in this field. Dr. Tickell joins a multidisciplinary group of experts and key stakeholders with the goal of advising WHO on a broad range of topics and issues related to acute malnutrition to improve the delivery of care and preventative interventions for malnourished children and their families. This convening supports the WHO’s new guideline to tackle acute malnutrition in children under five.

Dr. Tickell holds a leadership role within Global WACh’s Gut Health and Child Survival scientific priority area and collaborates on several research studies including the Childhood Acute Illness and Nutrition (CHAIN) Network consortium of studies (understanding why malnourished children with acute illnesses are at such high risk of death, and then to design inventions to reduce this risk), Mama Aweza trial (testing an mHealth system to identify malnourished children in western Kenya), and a placebo-controlled randomized trial on lactoferrin and lysozyme to promote nutritional, clinical, and enteric recovery among children with diarrhea and malnutrition. His research interests focus on pediatric infectious diseases, particularly the impact of enteric infections and dysfunction on nutritional status, morbidity and mortality.