Neil French is professor of Infectious Diseases and Global Health at the University of Liverpool and currently Head of the department of Clinical Infection, Microbiology and Immunology. He is also an honorary consultant in Infectious diseases at the Royal Liverpool & Broadgreen University Hospitals Trust. He graduated in medicine from the University of Edinburgh. His research career began when he spent 5 years at the Medical Research Council programme on AIDS in Uganda studying HIV as a member of LSTM staff. This was where his major interest in vaccines emerged, studying the efficacy of pneumococcal polysaccharide in HIV-infected adults. He subsequently went on to complete specialist training in Infectious Diseases and general medicine in Liverpool, secured a Wellcome Trust Career development fellowship and returned to Africa spending 5 year at the Wellcome trust Major overseas programme in Blantyre Malawi and subsequently 5 years as Director of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine’s site in Karonga Northern Malawi.
Neil is Head of Department of Clinical Infection Microbiology and Immunology and chair of Infectious Diseases & Global Health. He is the founding director of Centre for Global Vaccine Research and Hon Consultant Infectious Diseases, Royal Liverpool & Broadgreen University Hospitals Trust.
He was formerly division 6 director of the North West Coast Clinical research network and currently retains a post as senior adviser to the Clinical research network.
He is a panel member for The Wellcome Trust ERG4 panel, Immunity in health and Disease. He is a member of the Joint Committee for Vaccination and Immunisation pneumococcal sub-committee. He sits on several internation Data and safety Monitoring Borads.
His research interests started with HIV and the control of pneumococcal infections by vaccination. This work has grown into more vaccine focused activities to include studies on Group A & B streptococcus, rotavirus and most recently zikavirus vaccines. On returning to Liverpool in 2012 Prof French worked to consolidate the vaccine research activities within Liverpool and with colleagues established the Centre for Global Vaccine Research, which he now directs. This incorporates a multidisciplinary team of scientists working on vaccines for humans and animals. The centre can take vaccine concepts from basic epidemiology, immunology and microbial characterisation, through development of candidates to clinical trials evaluation in the UK and internationally. The centre has experience of working on several vaccine technologies, has established in vivo models and links to manufacturing. He continues to work in Malawi and is a senior investigator at the Malawi Liverpool Wellcome Trust Laboratories, Blantyre, Malawi. The interest in Global health persists and he is a deputy director of the Liverpool Glasgow welcome Trust Centre for Global health research and will be taking over as Director of the Wellcome Trust clinical Phd fellowship scheme in Global health in October from Professor David Lalloo.