View transcript »

With a background in Medicine and General Practice in the UK, Vicki has been working at the KEMRI Wellcome Trust Programme in Kilifi since 1990 and on Health Systems Research and Research Ethics since 1995. Prior to this, between 1982 and 1985, she worked at the UK MRC laboratories in The Gambia. She holds an appointment as a University Research Lecturer in the Nuffield Department of Medicine, and is a Research Associate of the Ethox Centre (Centre for Ethics) in the Public Health Department, at Oxford University. Broadly, Vicki's current research and operational interests concern understanding, and strengthening policy around, social and ethical aspects of international collaborative health research conducted in low-income settings. Specific areas of focus include community engagement, informed consent, benefit sharing, provider-patient communication, ancillary care responsibilities and data sharing. Her work is particularly influenced by an interest in drawing on empirical approaches to normative analysis; her doctoral thesis was based on addressing social and ethical issues in sharing research-generated genetic findings using community consultation methods. Vicki is an active member of programme committees that review new research proposals, and supports strategic planning around ethical issues that emerge during research across the programme. She contributes to social science and research ethics training at the centre for early-to-mid career scientists, front-line staff and community representatives. In the past, Vicki worked extensively on malaria home management in Kenya, including piloting, developing and evaluating a role for private medicine retailers within the Kenya National Malaria Control Strategy.