Biography

Ambrose Agweyu is a paediatrician and epidemiologist. Based on competitively-awarded funding for training and research, he has developed a 10-year career in pragmatic clinical trials, evidence synthesis and clinical guideline implementation. Working closely with the Kenya Ministry of Health, his early research involved conducting systematic reviews for a national exercise to adapt the WHO paediatric clinical practice guidelines using the GRADE methodology. Following this, Ambrose was Principal Investigator on a pragmatic clinical trial to study the effectiveness of alternative antibiotics for childhood pneumonia whose findings contributed towards a major revision in the Kenyan guidelines and are likely to influence practice in the region. Building on this work, he recently led a successful grant application jointly awarded by the UK MRC, DFID, NIHR and Wellcome Trust to undertake a large clinical trial comparing antibiotic treatments and supportive care strategies in critically-ill children. Alongside this trial, he currently co-leads a multi-site implementation science project to integrate methods for high-quality routine clinical data collection through promoting quality of clinical documentation and implementation of recommended pediatric care practices in 14 hospitals in Kenya and one in Tanzania. Nationally, Ambrose serves on the Kenya Ministry of Health Child Health Expert Panel providing independent technical advice to the Ministry on Child Health priorities including immunization, nutrition, and case management. He is also co-chair of the WHO/UNICEF Child Health Accountability Tracking (CHAT) Technical Advisory Group – one of three teams with global representation convened to develop a standard set of harmonized indicators for tracking the continuum of care from pregnancy to adolescence. As a member of the Kenya Paediatric Association, Ambrose is actively involved in advocacy, education and mentorship on how best to implement approaches for the prevention and management of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in children.