Having completed her medical training at the Kings College Hospital in London, Angela developed her skills and understanding of the complexity of health and illness through a Masters in Social Anthropology at University College London. She continued her training in Tropical Medicine, HIV and Genito-urinary Medicine at University College London and the Hospital for Tropical Diseases before securing an MRC Training Fellowship in Clinical Epidemiology.
This led to her PhD study in the Epidemiology of Herpes Simplex in Mwanza Tanzania and her leadership of the design and implementation of the Mema kwa Vijana (MkV) adolescent sexual health intervention in Tanzania, where she lived for four years.
Since moving to LSTM she has continued to build her portfolio of research in complex adolescent health interventions including leading the evaluation of the 10-fold scale up of the MkV intervention and the IntHEC multi-country adolescent reproductive health trial.
She is an Honorary Consultant at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital where she provides clinical HIV care at the AXESS clinic.
Building on her clinical work, she has developed her interest in Lung Health Research as Co- Deputy Director of the £6.9m IMPALA NIHR Unit and through NHS facing sexually transmitted infection research.
She has a strong interest in research ethics and chaired the LSTM Research Ethics Committee from 2008 - 2019
Research
Complex HIV and reproductive interventions and Implementation science for Adolescent health:
Dr Obasi has led large scale evaluations of complex adolescent health interventions in Africa including both biomedical, behavioural and policy impact evaluations. Her research has informed key WHO and UNAIDs recommendations and continues to be cited in best practice guidance. She has also led research exploring broader determinants of adolescent reproductive health including early marriage.
Lung Health:
Dr Obasi is the Co-Deputy Director of the £6.9m IMPALA NIHR Global Health Research Unit on Lung Health and TB in Africa and is a co-investigator of the Tupumue programme which is exploring determinants of Lung health in Nairobi, Kenya.
Ph.D. students
• Leticia Suwedi: Improving early infant diagnosis in Malawi
• Adeolu Adebiyi: HIV & SRH among AGYW who use drugs in Nigeria
• Martin Njoroge: Economic Burden of Lung Disease in Malawi
• Maggie Nyirenda: Early infant diagnosis in Malawi
• Wezzie Lora: Impact of HIV technologies on sex worker vulnerability in Malawi
• Mary McCaulay: Maternal morbidity measurement multi-country study
• John Dusabe: An mHealth intervention to promote SRH uptake in Mwanza Tanzania
• Jenny Renju: Evaluation of the scale up of an ASRH intervention in Tanzania
Teaching
From 2017-2021 Dr Obasi was the Co- Director of the LSTM Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, an internationally renowned and vibrant introduction to tropical medicine for doctors from all over the globe and the oldest course of its kind in the world
Dr Obasi also teaches on a number of Masters programmes and professional diplomas.
Professional memberships and associations
National panels and bodies
• Member NIHR Public Health Incubator
• Member UK.Gov Independent Review of Bureaucracy in Science – Challenge Panel
• Member MRC Public Health Intervention Development (PHIND) Panel (2018-2021)
Professional Memberships
• Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians
• Fellow of the British Association for HIV and Sexual Health