Prof. Keith Matthews is expert on the molecular cell biology of trypanosomatid parasites. His

principal research focus is on the pathogenic trypanosomatid, Trypanosoma brucei. These

cause Human and Animal African Trypanosomiasis in sub-Saharan Africa and he has

investigated their mechanisms of life-cycle regulation in preparation for transmission by the

disease vector (tsetse flies). He has also studied the mechanisms of gene expression control

in these kinetoplastid parasites. These are focused on posttranscriptional processes because

trypanosomatid organisms use polycistronic transcription, precursor RNAs being resolved by

unusual RNA processing mechanisms with differential regulation achieved via mRNA stability

and translational control. Professor Matthews was 2008 recipient of the C. A.

Wright medal from the British Society for Parasitology, elected Fellow of the Royal Society

of Edinburgh in 2014 and Fellow of the Medical Academy of Sciences in 2018. In 2015, he was awarded the Sanofi-Pasteur International mid-career

award for his contributions to the field of tropical medicine and neglected diseases.