Tumani Corrah

Sir Tumani Corrah KBE, MRG
Sir Tumani Corrah KBE MRG
Nationality	Gambian, British
Known for	Study of Infectious Diseases
Awards	CBE 2007 KBE 2019
Scientific career
Fields	Clinician Scientist

Sir Tumani Corrah is a Gambian clinician whose fields of research include tuberculosis, HIV and malaria. Corrah is Director of the Africa Research Excellence Fund (AREF)^[1] and Director, Africa Research Development, Medical Research Council.^[2]

Academic career

Tumani Corrah studied medicine at the First Pavlov State Medical University of St Petersburg, Russia and University College Ibadan, Nigeria.^[3] In the late seventies he went to the UK, first to Edinburgh then to Wales, where he trained for his Membership of the Royal College of Physicians as a chest physician in the Department of Medicine, Gwynedd General Hospital. In 1981, after obtaining his MRCP he was appointed consultant physician.

In 2014 Tumani Corrah was appointed as the first Emeritus Director of the MRC Unit in the Gambia and was awarded an Honorary Fellowship by The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the progress of clinical research in The Gambia and in West Africa as a whole.^[4]

Corrah has been a host of the Falling Walls conference.^[5]

Research interests

Corrah has published over 140 publications in peer reviewed journals and his most recent work has focused on tuberculosis, pneumonia and the role of leadership in people-centred health systems.^{[6][7][8][9][10]}

Other activities

• The INDEPTH Network, Chair of the Board of Trustees (since 2017)^[11]
• Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Member of the Global Health Scientific Advisory Committee^[12]
• World Health Organization (WHO), Member of the African Advisory Committee for Research and Development^[13]

Honours and other forms of recognition

• In 2007, Corrah was appointed Honorary Commander of the Order of the British Empire.^[3]
• In 2016, Corrah was nominated by the listeners of one of BBC World Service's longest-running radio programmes, Outlook, as one of the world's most extraordinary people.^[14][15]
• In 2016, Sir Leszek Borysiewicz named Tumani Corrah and Uganda's Nelson Sewankambo as Africa's two top scientists.^[1][16][17]
• In 2019, Corrah was appointed Honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire.^[18] The award became substantive in 2021.

References

1. "Africa Research Excellence fund". Retrieved 9 November 2018.
2. Medical Research Council, M. R. C. (18 May 2017). "New director roles for the MRC in Africa". mrc.ukri.org. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
3. "MRC Unit Director Awarded Honorary CBE". MRC Unit The Gambia at LSHTM. 15 June 2007. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
4. "Former Unit Director awarded Honorary Fellowship". MRC Unit The Gambia at LSHTM. 17 March 2015. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
5. Foundation, Falling Walls. "Tumani Corrah | Falling Walls". falling-walls.com. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
6. Senghore, Madikay; Otu, Jacob; Witney, Adam; Gehre, Florian; Doughty, Emma L.; Kay, Gemma L.; Butcher, Phillip; Salako, Kayode; Kehinde, Aderemi (19 September 2017). "Whole-genome sequencing illuminates the evolution and spread of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis in Southwest Nigeria". PLOS ONE. 12 (9): e0184510. Bibcode:2017PLoSO..1284510S. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0184510. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 5604961. PMID 28926571.
7. Gehre, Florian; Otu, Jacob; Kendall, Lindsay; Forson, Audrey; Kwara, Awewura; Kudzawu, Samuel; Kehinde, Aderemi O.; Adebiyi, Oludele; Salako, Kayode (3 November 2016). "The emerging threat of pre-extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis in West Africa: preparing for large-scale tuberculosis research and drug resistance surveillance". BMC Medicine. 14 (1): 160. doi:10.1186/s12916-016-0704-5. ISSN 1741-7015. PMC 5094099. PMID 27806714.
8. Mackenzie, Grant A; Hill, Philip C; Sahito, Shah M; Jeffries, David J; Hossain, Ilias; Bottomley, Christian; Uchendu, Uchendu; Ameh, David; Ndiaye, Malick (September 2017). "Impact of the introduction of pneumococcal conjugate vaccination on pneumonia in The Gambia: population-based surveillance and case-control studies". The Lancet. Infectious Diseases. 17 (9): 965–973. doi:10.1016/S1473-3099(17)30321-3. ISSN 1473-3099. PMC 5589209. PMID 28601421.
9. Howie, Stephen; Bottomley, Christian; Chimah, Osaretin; Ideh, Readon; Ebruke, Bernard; Okomo, Uduak; Onyeama, Charles; Donkor, Simon; Rodrigues, Onike (2018). "Zinc as an adjunct therapy in the management of severe pneumonia among Gambian children: randomized controlled trial". Journal of Global Health. 8 (1): 010418. doi:10.7189/jogh.08.010418. ISSN 2047-2978. PMC 5908397. PMID 29713463.
10. S., Chigudu; M., Jasseh; U., d'Alessandro; T., Corrah; A., Demba; J., Balen (January 2018). "The role of leadership in people-centred health systems: a sub-national study in The Gambia". Health Policy and Planning. 33 (1): E14 – E25. doi:10.1093/heapol/czu078. PMID 29304251. Retrieved 18 November 2018.
11. "INDEPTH Board elects Prof Tumani Corrah as new Chair | INDEPTH Network". www.indepth-network.org. Retrieved 18 November 2018.
12. Global Health Scientific Advisory Committee Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
13. African Advisory Committee for Research and Development World Health Organization (WHO).
14. Khan, Alieu. "The Gambia's own Dr. Tumani Corrah among world's most extraordinary". What's On Gambia – Gambian Celebrity gossip, nightlife, entertainment news, culture & lifestyle. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
15. "Outlook – I inspired the next generation of African scientists – BBC Sounds". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
16. "Vice-Chancellor calls for increased collaboration with Africa". University of Cambridge. 10 March 2016. Retrieved 29 November 2018.
17. Camara, Baboucarr (23 March 2016). "Gambia's Tumani Corrah Hailed As One of the Greatest Scientists in Africa". The Daily Observer (Banjul).
18. "Honorary British awards to foreign nationals 2019". GOV.UK.