Melita Alison Gordon is a gastroenterologist who works on invasive gut pathogens and tropical gastrointestinal disease. She leads the

Malawi Liverpool Wellcome Trust Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast ...

Salmonella and Enterics Group. Gordon was awarded the

British Society of Gastroenterology The British Society of Gastroenterology (BSG) is a British professional organisation of gastroenterologists, surgeons, pathologists, radiologists, scientists, nurses, dietitians and others amongst its members, which number over 3,000. It was founde ...

Sir Francis Avery Jones Research Medal in 2011.

Education and early career

Gordon completed her undergraduate studies at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

. She completed her clinical qualifications at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

and eventually specialised in internal medicine

Queen's University Belfast , mottoeng = For so much, what shall we give back? , top_free_label = , top_free = , top_free_label1 = , top_free1 = , top_free_label2 = , top_free2 = , established = , closed = , type = Public research university , parent = ...

. She has since worked in

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

and

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

. In 1993 she was awarded the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine Blacklock medal. In 1997 she was appointed a

Wellcome Trust The Wellcome Trust is a charitable foundation focused on health research based in London, in the United Kingdom. It was established in 1936 with legacies from the pharmaceutical magnate Henry Wellcome (founder of one of the predecessors of Glaxo ...

Clinical Fellow and Lecturer. She moved to

Malawi Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast ...

in 1997, where she lived until 2005 and was part of the

Research

In 2008 Gordon was made an NHS

Higher Education Funding Council for England The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) was a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom, which was responsible for the distribution of funding for higher education to universities and further education colleges in Engla ...

Clinical Fellow at the

University of Liverpool , mottoeng = These days of peace foster learning , established = 1881 – University College Liverpool1884 – affiliated to the federal Victoria Universityhttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/2004/4 University of Manchester Act 200 ...

. Her early work was the first to show how ''

Salmonella ''Salmonella'' is a genus of rod-shaped (bacillus) Gram-negative bacteria of the family Enterobacteriaceae. The two species of ''Salmonella'' are ''Salmonella enterica'' and ''Salmonella bongori''. ''S. enterica'' is the type species and is fur ...

'' becomes a lethal disease for

HIV-positive people HIV-positive people, seropositive people or people who live with HIV are people who have the human immunodeficiency virus HIV, the agent of the currently incurable disease AIDS. According to estimates by WHO and UNAIDS, 34.2 million people were i ...

. She was promoted to Reader in 2012 and Professor in 2015. In 2015 she returned to

where she leads the

Salmonella and Enterics Group. Gordon's research focuses on the development of vaccinations to protect against invasive bloodstream diseases caused by two groups of ''Salmonellae'';

typhoid fever Typhoid fever, also known as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella'' serotype Typhi bacteria. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often there is a gradual onset of a high fever over several ...

and Invasive Non-Typhoidal Salmonellosis (iNTS). Gordon is committed to identifying novel vaccinations that can protect children in Africa from bacterial disease. iNTS is a rare bacterial disease that is caused by extraintestinal infection of certain

serotypes A serotype or serovar is a distinct variation within a species of bacteria or virus or among immune cells of different individuals. These microorganisms, viruses, or cells are classified together based on their surface antigens, allowing the epi ...

of ''

''. iNTS kills around 80,000 people each year. It is more likely to occur in patients with HIV infection or

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...

and the majority of people who suffer from iNTS are in

Sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. These include West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the List of sov ...

. In 2011 Gordon was awarded the

Sir Francis Avery Jones Research Medal and in 2012 the Shire Awards for Gastrointestinal Excellence prize for Excellence in Gastroenterology. She became Director of the

World Gastroenterology Organisation The World Gastroenterology Organisation (WGO) is an international federation of over 100 national GI societies and 4 regional associations of gastroenterology representing over 50,000 individual members. WGO is focused on "the improvement of stan ...

Blantyre Training Center in 2016. In 2018 Gordon led Africa's launch of the new typhoid conjugate vaccine, and successfully vaccinated 24,000 children in

in the first six months. The first child, Golden Kondowe, received the first vaccination in Ndirande,

Blantyre Blantyre () is Malawi's centre of finance and commerce, and its second largest city, with an enumerated 800,264 inhabitants . It is sometimes referred to as the commercial and industrial capital of Malawi as opposed to the political capital, L ...

. The Typhoid Vaccine Acceleration Consortium (TyVAC) study was funded by the

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), a merging of the William H. Gates Foundation and the Gates Learning Foundation, is an American private foundation founded by Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates. Based in Seattle, Washington, it was l ...

and was the result of twenty years of research of ''

'' in

. The vaccine, which contains the Vi antigen (a part of the Salmonella Typhi bacterium that helps it cause disease), is expected to protect against typhoid and other infections. She works with local scientists, health workers and the Malawi Ministry of Health. The vaccine was shown to protect 81% of children from becoming infected with

. Gordon and the

Centre for Global Vaccine Research were awarded a multi-million pound research grant to establish the

Horizon 2020 The Framework Programmes for Research and Technological Development, also called Framework Programmes or abbreviated FP1 to FP9, are funding programmes created by the European Union/European Commission to support and foster research in the Europea ...

Vacci-iNTS consortium. The consortium looks to develop new vaccines and research the financial and social impact of iNTS on communities in Africa impacted by the disease. In 2019 Gordon was made a

National Institute for Health Research The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) is the British government’s major funder of clinical, public health, social care and translational research. With a budget of over £1.2 billion in 2020–21, its mission is to "impr ...

Global Research Professor. Her research has been supported by the

, Medical Research Council,

and

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) is a department of His Majesty's Government. The department was formed during a machinery of government change on 14 July 2016, following Theresa May's appointment as Prime ...

Selected publications

Her publications include: * * *

Personal life

Gordon is married to Stephen Gordon, former Director of the

Programme in Malawi. In the 2024 King's Birthday Honours, she was appointed

Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, George III, King George III. ...

(CMG) "for services to global health".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gordon, Melita Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Gastroenterologists British gastroenterologists NIHR Research Professors Alumni of the University of Oxford Academics of the University of Liverpool Alumni of Queen's University Belfast Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George