Currently I am leading a Wellcome funded Severe Malaria Africa – A consortium for Research and Trials (SMAART) consortium which is a multi-disciplinary team whose membership includes world leaders in severe malaria and experts in clinical trials with track records of successful high quality and collaborative research programmes across the continent. The overarching aim of SMAART is to improve outcomes from severe malaria in African children (since one in ten hospitalised with severe malaria continue to die by conducting better research studies faster. In severe malnutrition (SAM) we have ‘deconstructed’ key physiological elements’ provided definitive evidence to show that myocardial function in children with SAM is not aberrant and investigated fluid management, specifically in children with dehydrating diarrhoea. I am part of a large collaboration (https://www.imperial.ac.uk/hunger-project/) which have provided multiple lines of evidence indicating that there are several domains of gut function are aberrant. Our ultimate aim is to investigate whether a locally-manufactured feed incorporating legumes as a lactose-free, fermentable carbohydrate-containing alternatives, aimed at supporting global gut function compared to traditional milk-based SAM formulae, can reduce mortality. Fermentable carbohydrates provide a rich source of long chain fatty acids which improve the composition of normal gut microbes and positively influence immunological and metabolic function of the gut.