What we study

Drug-resistant epilepsy

About one in three people with epilepsy continues to have seizures despite taking medication. We work on why — how resistance develops, what distinguishes a resistant brain from a responsive one, and which mechanisms are still untouched by the drugs currently on the market. Much of this uses chronic rodent models of seizure and demyelination alongside clinical samples from Ghanaian patients.

Compounds from Ghanaian flora

Ghana’s medicinal plants are used widely for neurological and psychiatric complaints, usually with little evidence behind them. We take that use seriously as a starting hypothesis and test it properly — extraction and fractionation, dose–response in validated models, mechanism of action, and safety.

Species we have worked on include Antiaris toxicaria and Antiaris africana, Picralima nitida, Xylopia aethiopica and its principal constituent xylopic acid, and Salvia officinalis. Because these plants are taken alongside conventional medicines, we also study herb–drug interactions directly.

The gut–brain axis

The gut microbiome influences seizure threshold, and the composition of that microbiome differs between populations and environments. We have profiled gut bacterial patterns in people with epilepsy across peri-urban and urban Ghana, and we study how short-chain fatty acids produced by gut bacteria act on neurotransmitter systems.

Neuroinflammation and demyelination

Chronic inflammatory signalling in the central nervous system contributes to seizure susceptibility, memory impairment and progressive neurological damage. We examine how plant-derived extracts modulate pathways such as NF-κB, and whether they can limit demyelination in chronic models.

Medicines systems and access

A compound that works is of no use if the medicine never arrives. Alongside the laboratory work we study pharmaceutical supply chains, RFID-based traceability for detecting falsified medicines, and insurance claims data as a window onto what patients are actually prescribed and what it costs them.

How we work

Behavioural pharmacology, chronic seizure and neuroinflammation models, biochemical and molecular assays, microbiome profiling, and mixed-methods health-systems research. Laboratory animal work follows institutional ethical approval and documented welfare standards, and we teach those standards formally as part of our training programme.