Biography

Sande joined the Programme in 2005 as a research assistant in the viral epidemiology and control group having just graduated from Egerton University with a BSc degree in Biomedical Science. He was subsequently awarded a Wellcome Trust Masters fellowship in Tropical medicine and thereafter a Wellcome PhD studentship. He completed an MSc degree in Immunology at Imperial College London and a PhD in viral immunoepidemiology at the Open University, UK in collaboration with the KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme and Imperial College London.

Current Work

His research work has focused on pneumonia in children from low-income settings and well as in the development of vaccines against infections that cause pneumonia in children. Charles is particularly interested in characterising the molecular mechanisms that elevate the risk of severe disease and death in children with pneumonia, with the ultimate goal of devising innovative approaches to reduce the morbidity and mortality burden. His research team has in the last five years developed novel tools for characterising the respiratory proteomes of children with severe pneumonia and have exploited these tools to discover new mechanisms through which respiratory viruses enhance disease risk in children with pneumonia – for example, they were the first to describe an immunological phenomenon in the airways of children with pneumonia, whereby immunological responses that were initially triggered by respiratory virus infection, had an incidental effect in selectively remodeling the resident airway microbiota, and increasing niche opportunities for virus spread. Earlier in his career, Charles took a postdoctoral position at the department of Paediatrics at the University of Oxford, where he led a team of lab scientists in evaluating new adenovirus-vectored vaccines against Respiratory Syncytial Virus, which is the main cause of severe pneumonia in children.

Collaborations

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Project Research

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Publications

New SARS-CoV-2 Omicron Variant with Spike Protein Mutation Y451H, Kilifi, Kenya, March-May 2023.
Mwanga, M. J., Lambisia, A. W., Morobe, J. M., Murunga, N., Moraa, E., Ndwiga, L., Cheruiyot, R., Musyoki, J., Mutunga, M., Guzman-Rincon, L. M., Sande, C., Mwangangi, J., Bejon, P., Ochola-Oyier, L. I., Nokes, D. J., Agoti, C. N., Nyiro, J., Githinji, G.
Emerg Infect Dis, (2023). 29:

Identifying the research, advocacy, policy and implementation needs for the prevention and management of respiratory syncytial virus lower respiratory tract infection in low- and middle-income countries.
Carbonell-Estrany, X., Simoes, E. A. F., Bont, L. J., Gentile, A., Homaira, N., Scotta, M. C., Stein, R. T., Torres, J. P., Sheikh, J., Broor, S., Khuri-Bulos, N., Nokes, D. J., Munywoki, P. K., Bassat, Q., Sharma, A. K., Basnet, S., Garba, M., De Jesus-Cornejo, J., Lupisan, S. P., Nunes, M. C., Divarathna, M., Fullarton, J. R., Rodgers-Gray, B. S., Keary, I., Renosa, M. D. C., Verwey, C., Moore, D. P., Noordeen, F., Kabra, S., do Vale, M. S., Paternina-De La Ossa, R., Marino, C., Figueras-Aloy, J., Krilov, L., Berezin, E., Zar, H. J., Paudel, K., Safadi, M. A. P., Dbaibo, G., Jroundi, I., Jha, R., Rafeek, R. A. M., Pinheiro, R. S., Bracht, M., Muthugala, R., Lanari, M., Martinon-Torres, F., Mitchell, I., Irimu, G., Pandey, A., Krishnan, A., Mejias, A., da Costa, M. S. C., Shrestha, S., Pernica, J. M., de Carvalho, F. C., Jalango, R. E., Ibrahim, H., Ewa, A., Ensinck, G., Ulloa-Gutierrez, R., Miralha, A. L., Lucion, M. F., Hassan, M. Z., Akhtar, Z., Aleem, M. A., Chowdhury, F., Rojo, P., Sande, C., Musau, A., Zaman, K., Helena, L., Arlant, F., Ghimire, P., Price, A., Subedi, K. U., Brenes-Chacon, H., Goswami, D. R., Rahman, M. Z., Hossain, M. E., Chisti, M. J., Vain, N. E., Lim, A., Chiu, A., Papenburg, J., Juarez, M. D. V., Senaratne, T., Arunasalam, S., Strand, T. A., Ayuk, A., Ogunrinde, O., Tavares, L. V. S., Garba, C., Garba, B. I., Dawa, J., Gordon, M., Osoro, E., Agoti, C. N., Nyawanda, B., Ngama, M., Tabu, C., Mathew, J. L., Cornacchia, A., Rai, G. K., Jain, A., Giongo, M. S., Paes, B. A.
Front Pediatr, (2022). 10:1033125

Development of a controlled human infection model to study respiratory syncytial virus infection in older adults.
Sande, C. J.
Lancet Healthy Longev, (2022). 3:e370-e371

Respiratory syncytial virus prevention within reach: the vaccine and monoclonal antibody landscape.
Mazur, N. I., Terstappen, J., Baral, R., Bardaji, A., Beutels, P., Buchholz, U. J., Cohen, C., Crowe, J. E., Cutland, C. L., Eckert, L., Feikin, D., Fitzpatrick, T., Fong, Y., Graham, B. S., Heikkinen, T., Higgins, D., Hirve, S., Klugman, K. P., Kragten-Tabatabaie, L., Lemey, P., Libster, R., Lowensteyn, Y., Mejias, A., Munoz, F. M., Munywoki, P. K., Mwananyanda, L., Nair, H., Nunes, M. C., Ramilo, O., Richmond, P., Ruckwardt, T. J., Sande, C., Srikantiah, P., Thacker, N., Waldstein, K. A., Weinberger, D., Wildenbeest, J., Wiseman, D., Zar, H. J., Zambon, M., Bont, L.
Lancet Infect Dis, (2022). 23:e2-e21

Respiratory syncytial virus in young children: community cohort study integrating serological surveys, questionnaire and electronic health records, Born in Bradford cohort, England, 2008 to 2013.
Zylbersztejn, A., Pembrey, L., Goldstein, H., Berbers, G., Schepp, R., van der Klis, F., Sande, C., Mason, D., Wright, J., Smyth, R., Hardelid, P.
Euro Surveill, (2021). 26:2000023

Implementation strategies for passive respiratory syncytial virus immunisation.
Sande, C. J.
Lancet Infect Dis, (2021). 21:1200-1201

Priorities for developing respiratory syncytial virus vaccines in different target populations.
Drysdale, S. B., Barr, R. S., Rollier, C. S., Green, C. A., Pollard, A. J., Sande, C. J.
Sci Transl Med, (2020). 12:eaax2466

Vaccination against Respiratory Syncytial Virus.
Green, C. A., Drysdale, S. B., Pollard, A. J., Sande, C. J.
Interdiscip Top Gerontol Geriatr, (2020). 43:182-192

Airway response to respiratory syncytial virus has incidental antibacterial effects.
Sande, C. J., Njunge, J. M., Mwongeli Ngoi, J., Mutunga, M. N., Chege, T., Gicheru, E. T., Gardiner, E. M., Gwela, A., Green, C. A., Drysdale, S. B., Berkley, J. A., Nokes, D. J., Pollard, A. J.
Nat Commun, (2019). 10:2218

Agreement between ELISA and plaque reduction neutralisation assay in Detection of respiratory syncytial virus specific antibodies in a birth Cohort from Kilifi, coastal Kenya.
Nyiro, J. U., Kiyuka, P. K., Mutunga, M. N., Sande, C. J., Munywoki, P. K., Scott, J. A. G., Nokes, D. J.
Wellcome Open Res, (2019). 4:33