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Alex Keeley

@alexjkeeley.bsky.social

1.8K followers 1.5K following 57 posts

Wellcome Clinical PhD in Global Health @ MRC Gambia/LSHTM. ID SpR @Sheffield. Strep A Immuno-Epi and RHD. Climate, Social and Healthcare Justice. He/him

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Alex Keeley @alexjkeeley.bsky.social · Aug 8

🧵 Our paper out today in @naturemedicine.bsky.social

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

On development of #StrepA #Immunity over life course in #TheGambia raising hope for #vaccines on the horizon

1/

#Immunosky #IDsky #MicroSky #globalhealth.

Alex Keeley @alexjkeeley.bsky.social · 8d

so just reading the title - I would say there is a lot more to this than amnesia

Gabriele Pollara @gpollara.bsky.social · 8d

Good title this:

"Tuberculosis and the perils of historical amnesia"

Good reminder about "...the enduring role of poverty, overcrowding, and substandard housing in sustaining tuberculosis in the present era.."

#TBSky #IDSky @lancetmicrobe.bsky.social

Tuberculosis and the perils of historical amnesia

In a recent Comment published in The Lancet, Hans Henri P Kluge emphasised the urgency of addressing drug-resistant tuberculosis in the WHO European region.1 Although the health security framing…

www.thelancet.com

Reposted by Alex Keeley

Infinity Bio Inc @infinitybioinc.bsky.social · Sep 8

A new study by @thushan-desilva.bsky.social @alexjkeeley.bsky.social & colleagues provides a framework for future Streptococcus pyogenes (Strep A) vaccine development by examining the natural acquisition of humoral immunity!

www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#Microbiology #Pathogen #VaccineDevelopment

Alex Keeley @alexjkeeley.bsky.social · Sep 2

I agree but #EMR is a core element of healthcare delivery... so you could (and we absolutely should) judge/select your EMR by how much it facilitates the human connection with patients vs how much it gets in the way.....

Reposted by Alex Keeley

STITCHES Medicine - the Best of Medical Research @medicine.stitches.today · Aug 17

Antibodies to conserved Streptococcus pyogenes antigens correlate with functional activity and protect Gambian children from culture‑confirmed infections, especially under age 2.

by Keeley AJ, Camara FE (...) de Silva TI et 33 al. in Nat Med #MedSky

👉 get more here

📖 read the article:

Early-life serological profiles and the development of natural protective humoral immunity to Streptococcus pyogenes in a high-burden setting - Nature Medicine

Serological profiles from two observational cohort studies in The Gambia characterize surrogates of protection against Streptococcus pyogenes and reveal an antibody response against antigens that are currently in vaccine development.

Alex Keeley @alexjkeeley.bsky.social · Aug 8

On this note:

Huge progress being made by Penda Johm in establishing a community advisory board for Strep A research...

Many new projects underway, lots of opportunity to collaborate...

And substantial momentum towards Strep A vaccine trials @mrcunitgambia.bsky.social

fin/

Alex Keeley @alexjkeeley.bsky.social · Aug 8

But biggest thanks to the families, the Alkalo, and community of Sukuta, The Gambia.

Sharing the first results with you was a special moment (x.com/edwinarmitag...)

We look forward to the next event to show just how impactful your contribution has been.

13/

Alex Keeley @alexjkeeley.bsky.social · Aug 8

So many collaborators and partnerships made this happen. Plus the amazing SpyCATS field team (led by Gabou de Crombrugghe and Musukoi Jammeh), lab teams and RSO @mrcunitgambia.bsky.social .

12/

Alex Keeley @alexjkeeley.bsky.social · Aug 8

Huge thanks to @wellcometrust.bsky.social and BactiVac for the funding.

All this work from x2 clinical PhD fellowships and a pump priming grant. Has led to so much more research and collaborations underway already...

👀 Preprint from Fatoumata Camara on mucosal responses coming any minute...

11/

Alex Keeley @alexjkeeley.bsky.social · Aug 8

🧫 For Strep A nerds:

Protection from IgG to SLO, SpyAD & SpyCEP held even after accounting for type-specific responses. Type-specific IgG also mattered. Complex w/ technical and analytical limitations. Read the paper & reach out with❓s

Or hear it at #Bactivac conference in Nov

10/

Alex Keeley @alexjkeeley.bsky.social · Aug 8

These data give hope that vaccines with these antigens could protect people from Strep A infection.

But:
We need to give more attention to children under 2.
We need vaccine trials.

And there are still so many questions to answer.

9/

Alex Keeley @alexjkeeley.bsky.social · Aug 8

➡️ In this setting, so much immunological action is in the under 2s

Maternal antibody wanes rapidly after birth

Exposure is intense

Antibody levels rocket up

Antibody rises around infection most pronounced in under 2s regardless of symptoms or site (throat/skin)

8/

Alex Keeley @alexjkeeley.bsky.social · Aug 8

What did we find?

🖐️📢 Higher IgG levels to SLO, SpyAD, SpyCEP, but not GAC were associated with protection.

We defined protective thresholds allowing comparison with upcoming phase 1 vaccine trials. But.. to be more relevant we need universal reference sera.

7/

Alex Keeley @alexjkeeley.bsky.social · Aug 8

We measured IgG antibodies 1987 timepoints, linked to dense culture-based surveillance for Strep A. This allowed us to explore the association between antibody level and risk of infection.

Collaboration with @adamjkucharski.bsky.social and @hsalje.bsky.social

6/

Alex Keeley @alexjkeeley.bsky.social · Aug 8

Thanks to a collaboration with GSK Vaccines Institute for Global Health and @njmoreland.bsky.social, and along with our team (esp lab superstar Fatoumata Camara) @mrcunitgambia.bsky.social, we measured antibodies to vaccine-relevant antigens, including:

GAC
SLO
SpyAD
SpyCEP
DNAseB
M proteins

5/

Alex Keeley @alexjkeeley.bsky.social · Aug 8

SpyCATS recap:

We did a household cohort study in The Gambia - funded by @wellcometrust.bsky.social as a clinical PhD fellowship to @earmitage.bsky.social to detect Strep A carriage and disease

And.. it is a unique platform to understand immunity.

Read about that: tinyurl.com/4d9pfxwc

4/

Alex Keeley @alexjkeeley.bsky.social · Aug 8

# StrepA kills >500,000 people a year via:
Invasive Strep A (e.g UK 2022)
and
Rheumatic heart disease (RHD).

RHD occurs where there’s:
+++ Strep A skin infections
+++ bacterial diversity
+++ poverty

Children the world over would benefit from a safe effective vaccine.

3/

Alex Keeley @alexjkeeley.bsky.social · Aug 8

This is work from a @wellcometrust.bsky.social funded PhD with:

@mrcunitgambia.bsky.social
@lshtm.bsky.social
@floreyinstitute.bsky.social

My amazing supervisors: @thushan-desilva.bsky.social, Beate Kampmann and @claireyt.bsky.social

2/

Alex Keeley @alexjkeeley.bsky.social · Aug 8

🧵 Our paper out today in @naturemedicine.bsky.social

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

On development of #StrepA #Immunity over life course in #TheGambia raising hope for #vaccines on the horizon

1/

#Immunosky #IDsky #MicroSky #globalhealth.

Reposted by Alex Keeley

Dr Laura Waters @drlaurajwaters.bsky.social · Jul 14

Beatriz Grinszetjn
Opens #ias2025!

While she can't provide a recipe for success in current climate, there are key factors
1. EVIDENCE
2. SOLIDARITY
3. TRUTH

Let us make the most of our time together at the conference to "reaffirm, refocus & rebuild!"

@iasociety.bsky.social

Alex Keeley @alexjkeeley.bsky.social · Jul 14

📌

Reposted by Alex Keeley

Stuart Campbell @sc345.bsky.social · Jun 2

Prof de Silva & Dr Keeley speak on Strep A epi & immunity in the Gambia.
🗝️ Hyperendemicity of Strep A
🗝️ Index infections not explained by household contacts
🗝️ Early life immunity develops <2 y/o
🗝️ Ab response to carriage & infection
🗝️ ?protective immunity from SLO, SpyAD, SpyCEP

#LISSSD25 #IDsky

Alex Keeley @alexjkeeley.bsky.social · May 21

Tip rather than bootcamp:

Have you tried using the package librarian?

It manages this issue quite well.

library(librarian)
shelf(<list of packages your script requires>)

Not tried it for packages that require different R versions etc so not sure if this is what you're after?

Alex Keeley @alexjkeeley.bsky.social · May 16

This post just hits the nail on the head for me right now:

Tessa Hill @tessahill.bsky.social · May 16

There’s a real rearranging of the deck chairs on the Titanic vibe going on in academia right now.

a man in a tuxedo is playing a violin in front of a crowd

Alt: a man in a tuxedo is playing a violin in front of a crowd of people trying to evacuate the ship

media.tenor.com

Alex Keeley @alexjkeeley.bsky.social · Apr 20

Pin for later!

Alex Keeley @alexjkeeley.bsky.social · Apr 15

📌