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Biography
James’s group focusses on identifying molecular mechanisms to help children survive and thrive. His portfolio lies at the interface of infection, immunity, and nutrition, examining mechanisms underlying clinical outcomes during and following acute illness. Specifically, he focuses on the relationships between infection, nutrition, mortality, and poor growth among acutely ill children. James joined the Programme in 2013 as an early post-doc and started biomarker research among critically ill children including biomarkers distinguishing bacterial meningitis from cerebral malaria with Dr. Evelyn Gitau. From 2016, under the mentorship of Prof. Jay Berkley, he successfully led the existing samples and data analysis workplan of the Childhood Acute Illness and Nutrition (CHAIN) Network. His work revealed that acutely ill undernourished children who die soon after hospital discharge have a sepsis-like inflammatory profile at discharge implicating untreated infections or ongoing microbial component exposures. He has further shown that children with severe malnutrition and HIV have evidence of metabolic stress, affecting pathways related to inflammation and lipid metabolism.
Current Work
He is currently leading a large nested systems biology study within CHAIN on mechanisms of inpatient and post-discharge mortality among acutely ill children across the nutritional spectrum in Africa and south Asia. Early data suggests death is associated with failure in energy metabolism alongside inflammation. This will be the largest biological study to date elucidating mechanisms underlying mortality despite treatment protocols being followed. Together, this work has generated new thinking about interventions addressing specific pathways to reduce mortality and leading to translational trials. In the next 5 years, he aims to conduct a programme of work focussed on the relationship between systemic inflammation, a natural response to infections and should resolve with recovery, and growth following acute illness in children. He aims to determine whether systemic inflammation persists after hospital discharge, is greater among undernourished children, if it affects post-discharge growth and identify causes of systemic inflammation. He will utilise a large set of existing high-quality data and biological samples from a recent large study of children admitted to hospitals in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia and followed up for 6 months after discharge. He also heads the liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry platform and have developed analytical pipelines to investigate infections, support antigen discovery in malaria, among others. Collaborators: Bryan Gonzales, Holm Uhlig, Trevor Lawley, Judd Walson, Robert BandsmaCollaborations
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Project Research
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Publications
Childhood growth during recovery from acute illness in Africa and South Asia: a secondary analysis of the childhood acute illness and nutrition (CHAIN) prospective cohort.
Bourdon, C., Diallo, A. H., Mohammad Sayeem Bin Shahid, A. S., Khan, M. A., Saleem, A. F., Singa, B. O., Gnoumou, B. S., Tigoi, C., Otieno, C. A., Oduol, C. O., Lancioni, C. L., Manyasi, C., McGrath, C. J., Maronga, C., Lwanga, C., Brals, D., Ahmed, D., Mondal, D., Denno, D. M., Mangale, D. I., Chimwezi, E., Mbale, E., Mupere, E., Salauddin Mamun, G. M., Ouédraogo, I., Berkley, J. A., Njunge, J. M., Njirammadzi, J., Mukisa, J., Thitiri, J., Walson, J. L., Jemutai, J., Tickell, K. D., Shahrin, L., Mallewa, M., Hossain, M. I., Chisti, M. J., Timbwa, M., Mburu, M., Ngari, M. M., Ngao, N., Aber, P., Harawa, P. P., Sukhtankar, P., Bandsma, R. H. J., Bamouni, R. M., Molyneux, S., Mwaringa, S., Shaima, S. N., Ali, S. A., Afsana, S. M., Banu, S., Ahmed, T., Voskuijl, W. P., Kazi, Z.
EClinicalMedicine, (2024). 70:102530
Distinct transcriptomic signatures define febrile malaria depending on initial infective states, asymptomatic or uninfected.
Kimenyi, K. M., Akinyi, M. Y., Mwikali, K., Gilmore, T., Mwangi, S., Omer, E., Gichuki, B., Wambua, J., Njunge, J., Obiero, G., Bejon, P., Langhorne, J., Abdi, A., Ochola-Oyier, L. I.
BMC Infect Dis, (2024). 24:140
Inflammation: the driver of poor outcomes among children with severe acute malnutrition?.
Sturgeon, J. P., Njunge, J. M., Bourke, C. D., Gonzales, G. B., Robertson, R. C., Bwakura-Dangarembizi, M., Berkley, J. A., Kelly, P., Prendergast, A. J.
Nutr Rev, (2023). 81:1636-1652
Microbiota and growth among infants and children in low-income and middle-income settings.
Njunge, J. M., Walson, J. L.
Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care, (2023). 26:245-252
The Childhood Acute Illness and Nutrition (CHAIN) network nested case-cohort study protocol: a multi-omics approach to understanding mortality among children in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.
Njunge, J. M., Tickell, K., Diallo, A. H., Sayeem Bin Shahid, A. S. M., Gazi, M. A., Saleem, A., Kazi, Z., Ali, S., Tigoi, C., Mupere, E., Lancioni, C. L., Yoshioka, E., Chisti, M. J., Mburu, M., Ngari, M., Ngao, N., Gichuki, B., Omer, E., Gumbi, W., Singa, B., Bandsma, R., Ahmed, T., Voskuijl, W., Williams, T. N., Macharia, A., Makale, J., Mitchel, A., Williams, J., Gogain, J., Janjic, N., Mandal, R., Wishart, D. S., Wu, H., Xia, L., Routledge, M., Gong, Y. Y., Espinosa, C., Aghaeepour, N., Liu, J., Houpt, E., Lawley, T. D., Browne, H., Shao, Y., Rwigi, D., Kariuki, K., Kaburu, T., Uhlig, H. H., Gartner, L., Jones, K., Koulman, A., Walson, J., Berkley, J.
Gates Open Res, (2022). 6:77
Commentary: Mechanisms of kwashiorkor-associated immune suppression: Insights from human, mouse, and pig studies.
Gonzales, G. B., Bourke, C. D., Sturgeon, J. P., Njunge, J. M., Robertson, R. C., Kelly, P. M., Berkley, J. A.
Front Immunol, (2022). 13:959465
The role of albumin and the extracellular matrix on the pathophysiology of oedema formation in severe malnutrition.
Gonzales, G. B., Njunge, J. M., Gichuki, B. M., Wen, B., Ngari, M., Potani, I., Thitiri, J., Laukens, D., Voskuijl, W., Bandsma, R., Vanmassenhove, J., Berkley, J. A.
EBioMedicine, (2022). 79:103991
Characterization of Anopheles gambiae D7 salivary proteins as markers of human-mosquito bite contact.
Oseno, B., Marura, F., Ogwang, R., Muturi, M., Njunge, J., Nkumama, I., Mwakesi, R., Mwai, K., Rono, M. K., Mwakubambanya, R., Osier, F., Tuju, J.
Parasit Vectors, (2022). 15:11
Systemic inflammation and metabolic disturbances underlie inpatient mortality among ill children with severe malnutrition.
Wen, B., Njunge, J. M., Bourdon, C., Gonzales, G. B., Gichuki, B. M., Lee, D., Wishart, D. S., Ngari, M., Chimwezi, E., Thitiri, J., Mwalekwa, L., Voskuijl, W., Berkley, J. A., Bandsma, R. H.
Sci Adv, (2022). 8:eabj6779
Plasma calprotectin as a biomarker of mortality at antiretroviral treatment initiation in advanced HIV - pilot study.
Kamau, F. W., Gwela, A., Nyerere, A. K., Riitho, V., Njunge, J. M., Ngari, M. M., Prendergast, A. J., Berkley, J. A.
Wellcome Open Res, (2020). 5:46