Synopsis
Professor Kim Mulholland will draw on four decades of working with the World Health Organization, and discuss the state of global health for children, and where it may go in the future.
Speaker:
Professor Kim Mulholland is a paediatrician, vaccinologist and epidemiologist, with 45 years’ experience in tropical child health. Kim’s main research focus has been on pneumonia and vaccines. He worked with the Medical Research Council Laboratories, Gambia from 1989 to 1995, where he developed a program of research covering all aspects of the problem of childhood pneumonia, and has remained involved with them since then. His work there included studies of the aetiology, clinical signs, treatment of childhood pneumonia and a pivotal study of the impact of Hib vaccine on invasive Hib disease and pneumonia. He also led a detailed study of the clinical signs and aetiology of sepsis in infants under 3 months, and a study of the aetiology, clinical signs, treatment and outcome of pneumonia in children. These studies helped to guide WHO policy in the field and contributed to the development of the strategy of Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI), as well as guiding oxygen and antibiotic management for hospitalized children. In Gambia, he also worked on RSV epidemiology and several projects relating indoor air pollution to pneumonia.
At WHO HQ from 1995-2000 Kim worked on research related to IMCI and oversaw the development of standardized methods for the evaluation of pneumonia vaccines in developing countries. At WHO he was also the focal point for air pollution in the Child and Adolescent Health Department. He was one of the founders of the Global Action Plan for Pneumonia and one of the leaders of the successful Hib Initiative project that saw the introduction of Hib vaccines into the poorest countries of the world.
In recent years Kim has led multifaceted research projects in Vietnam, Mongolia, Ethiopia and Indonesia, as well as involvement in research in India, Gambia, Fiji, Philippines and other countries. These projects included evaluation of the impact of Hib, pneumococcal, HPV and typhoid vaccines. He has been a member of the WHO SAGE (Scientific Advisory Group of Experts) on immunization since 2020 and the WHO Malaria Vaccine Implementation Programme since 2016. As a member of data safety and monitoring committees, Kim has been involved in the oversight of many vaccine trials including for Pneumococcal, Dengue, RSV, malaria, and Covid-19 vaccines.