Professor Bridget Bannerman
About me
Professor Bridget Bannerman
Scientist, Researcher and Public Health Advocate
Professor Bridget Bannerman is a Sierra Leonean scientist, researcher, and advocate for science education, health equity, and research capacity building. With a PhD from the University of Cambridge, her scientific work spans infectious diseases, computational biology, bioinformatics, and pathogen research to support the identification of potential drug targets.
She leads Science Resources Africa (SRA), an initiative dedicated to strengthening scientific education, research collaboration and capacity-building across Africa. Her work connects scientific research with community needs, with a particular interest in improving health outcomes and expanding opportunities for young people and women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
Professor Bannerman has contributed to international scientific collaborations and co-authored peer-reviewed research published in journals including Nature Microbiology, Science, Bioinformatics and Life Science Alliance. Through research, mentorship and collaboration, she champions the use of science, technology and education to address health challenges and advance sustainable development.
Her professional mission is to ensure scientific knowledge translates into practical benefits for communities, particularly those with limited access to research opportunities and essential health services.
Professor Bridget Bannerman
Scientist, Researcher, Educator and Advocate for Health Equity in Africa
Professor Bridget Bannerman is a Sierra Leonean scientist and research leader whose work brings together infectious disease research, computational biology, bioinformatics, science education and community health. Her career reflects a commitment to using scientific knowledge, interdisciplinary collaboration and education to address public health challenges and strengthen research capacity in Africa.
A graduate of the University of Cambridge, where she earned her PhD, Professor Bannerman has developed scientific expertise in infectious pathogens and in applying computational approaches to understand disease mechanisms. Her research has explored how biological data and metabolic modelling can help identify potential vulnerabilities in disease-causing organisms and inform the search for new therapeutic approaches.
Scientific research and international collaboration
Professor Bannerman has contributed to collaborative research investigating infectious diseases, including African sleeping sickness, tuberculosis-related pathogens, Mycobacterium abscessus and SARS-CoV-2. Her work spans bioinformatics, pathogen biology, metabolic modelling, and interpreting complex biological datasets.
Her publications appear in internationally recognised scientific journals, including Nature Microbiology, Science, Bioinformatics, and the Life Science Alliance. These collaborations demonstrate the importance of combining biological knowledge, computational methods and multidisciplinary expertise to investigate the mechanisms underlying infectious diseases.
Her research interests also extend to scientific databases and the responsible integration of biomedical information. She is particularly interested in how research tools and data resources can support identifying potential drug targets, improve scientific understanding, and contribute to future advances in public health.
Leadership in science education and capacity-building
Professor Bannerman is the leader of Science Resources Africa (SRA), an initiative established to promote science education, research collaboration and scientific capacity-building in Africa.
Through SRA, she has supported activities that connect students, educators, researchers, and health professionals with opportunities to develop scientific skills and engage with contemporary research. The organisation has also facilitated international scientific workshops, including a West African bioinformatics and open-laboratory drug-discovery conference held in The Gambia in 2019 in collaboration with scientific and academic partners.
A central principle of her work is that geography or institutional resources should not limit access to scientific knowledge. She advocates for stronger research networks, practical science education and opportunities for African students and early-career researchers to participate in international scientific collaboration.
She is also committed to supporting women and young people pursuing careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Through mentorship, training and engagement, her work seeks to encourage the next generation of African scientists to develop their abilities, pursue ambitious research questions and contribute to solutions for local and global challenges.
Connecting research with public health and communities
Professor Bannerman's interests extend beyond laboratory and computational research to the wider question of how scientific knowledge can improve people's lives.
She is interested in the relationship between research evidence, public health systems and the communities those systems serve. Her work and leadership reflect the importance of making research more accessible, strengthening local scientific capacity and encouraging collaboration among researchers, policymakers, health professionals and educators.
Her broader interests include infectious disease surveillance, biomedical data integration, antimicrobial resistance, and the potential contribution of digital technologies to public health. These areas require not only scientific innovation but also attention to implementation, local context, data quality, privacy, equity and the needs of the people who use health services.
Through these interests, Professor Bannerman advocates research that responds to real-world challenges and partnerships that connect scientific expertise with African communities' priorities.
A commitment to African scientific leadership
Professor Bannerman's career reflects a belief that Africa's health and development challenges can be addressed more effectively when African researchers have the resources, training, partnerships and institutional opportunities to lead and shape scientific work.
She supports approaches that strengthen local expertise while encouraging international collaboration and knowledge exchange. Her work through SRA and her participation in scientific networks contribute to a wider effort to expand access to research training and foster stronger connections between African institutions and the global scientific community.
She also recognises the importance of representation and mentorship in helping young people see themselves as future scientists, innovators and leaders. By promoting science education and research engagement, she encourages students to approach challenges with curiosity, confidence, integrity, and a commitment to serving society.
Vision and legacy
At the heart of Professor Bannerman's work is the conviction that science should serve humanity. She champions a vision in which scientific discovery, education, technology, and collaboration work together to improve health outcomes, expand opportunity, and strengthen communities' capacity to address their own challenges.
Her work shows how scientific research and educational leadership can complement one another. Through research, collaboration, mentorship, and capacity-building, she continues to advocate for a future in which African scientific talent is supported, local priorities shape research agendas, and scientific knowledge translates into meaningful public benefit.
Professor Bridget Bannerman's professional journey reflects science's potential to cross disciplinary and geographical boundaries—and the importance of ensuring the benefits of scientific progress reach the communities that need them most.
Degrees:
Burns J, Xu Z, Dorrell RG, Godrijan J. Reference genome of calcifying phytoplankton Calcidiscus reveals vitamin-mediated
holobiont interactions. Under review – ISME Communications, 2026
Bannerman BP, Oarga A, Júlvez J,
‘Mycobacterial Metabolic Model Development for Drug Target Identification,
GigaByte, https://doi.org/10.46471/gigabyte.80, April 2023
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Oarga A, Bannerman BP, Júlvez J, CONTRABASS: exploiting flux constraints in genome-scale models for the
detection of vulnerabilities, Bioinformatics, Volume 39, Issue 2, February 2023,
https://doi.org/10.1093/bioinformatics/btad053
Boeck L, Burbaud, S, Skwark M, Pearson WH, Sangen J, Weimann A, Everall. I, Bryant JM, Malhotra S, Bannerman
BP, Kierdorf K, Blundell TL, Dionne MS, Parkhill JP, Floto RA ‘The Pathobiology of Mycobacterium Abscessus Revealed
through Phenogenomic Analysis’. Sept 2022. Nature Microbiology doi: 10.1038/s41564-022-01204-x.
Bannerman, B. P, Jorge Júlvez, Alexandru Oarga, Tom L Blundell, Pablo Moreno, and R Andres Floto. ‘Integrated
Human/SARS-CoV-2 Metabolic Models Present Novel Treatment Strategies against COVID-19’. Life Science Alliance 4, no. 10
(1 October 2021): e202000954. https://doi.org/10.26508/lsa.202000954.
Bryant JM, Brown KP, Burbaud S, Everall I, Belardinelli JM, Rodriguez-Rincon D, Grogono DM, Peterson CM, Verma D,
Evans IE, Ruis C, Weimann A, Arora D, Malhotra S, Bannerman B, Passemar C, Templeton K, MacGregor G, Jiwa K, Fisher AJ,
Blundell TL, Ordway DJ, Jackson M, Parkhill J, Floto RA. Stepwise pathogenic evolution of Mycobacterium abscessus. Science.
2021 Apr 30;372(6541):eabb8699. doi: 10.1126/science. abb8699. PMID: 33926925.
Londoño PA, Banholzer N, Bannerman BP, Kramer S. Is mRNA decapping by ApaH like phosphatases present in
Eukaryotes beyond the Kinetoplastida. 2021. BMC Ecology and Evolution
Beaudoin CA, Jamasb AR, Alsulami AF, Copoiu L, van Tonder AJ, Hala S, Bannerman BP, Thomas SE, Vedithi
SC, Torres PHM, Blundell TL. Predicted structural mimicry of spike receptor-binding motifs from highly pathogenic human
coronaviruses. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2001037021002798?via%3Dihub
Alsulami AF, Thomas SE, Jamasb AR, Beaudoin CA, Moghul I, Bannerman BP, Copoiu L, Vedithi SC, Torres P, Blundell
TL. SARS-CoV-2 3D database: understanding the coronavirus proteome and evaluating possible drug targets. Brief Bioinform.
2021 Mar 22;22(2):769-780. doi: 10.1093/bib/bbaa404. PMID: 33416848; PMCID: PMC7929435.
Oarga A, Bannerman BP, Júlvez J. Growth Dependent Computation of Chokepoints in Metabolic Networks. 2020 In
book: Lecture Notes in Computer Science. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-60327-4_6.
Skwark M, Torres P, Copoiu L, Bannerman B P, Floto RA, Blundell TL. Mabellini: a genome-wide database for
understanding the structural proteome and evaluating prospective antimicrobial targets of the emerging pathogen
Mycobacterium abscessus, Database, Volume 2019, Issue 1, 2019
Bannerman BP, Vedithi, S, Julvez J, Munir A, Skwark M, Oliver S and Blundell, TL. Comparative pathway analysis of
mycobacterial species provides insight into the identification of new drug targets, 2019. doi:
https://doi.org/10.1101/535856
Waman, VP, Vedithi, SC, Thomas, SE, Bannerman BP, Munir, S, Skwark, MJ, Malhotra S and Blundell, TL.
Mycobacterial genomics and structural bioinformatics: opportunities and challenges in drug discovery. 2019. Emerging
Microbes and Infections
Bannerman B, Kramer S, Dorrell R, and Carrington M. Multispecies reconstructions uncover widespread
conservation, and lineage-specific elaborations in eukaryotic mRNA metabolism, 2018. PLOS ONE 13(3): e0192633.
Ismail, Dana, Jackie Green, Bridget Bannerman, et al. 2017. Posterior Reversible Encephalopathy Syndrome (PRES)
in Adult Multi-Visceral Transplant Patients- Cambridge University Hospital Experience. Transplantation 101(6S2).
Bannerman B, Dorrell R, Chukualim J and Carrington M. 3D Eukaryotic Map: Intron Density vs Exon Junction
Complex. F1000Research 2016, 5(ISCB Comm J):1982
Gao, R., C. Kratzing, C. Pither… Bannerman-Chukualim et al. 2015. Nutritional Outcomes Following Small Bowel
Transplantation – The First Year Post-Operative Nutritional Nadir. Clinical Nutrition ESPEN 10(5): e190–e191.
Middleton, S.J., C. Pither, R. Gao… Bannerman-Chukualim et al. 2014. Adult Small Intestinal and Multivisceral
Transplantation: Lessons Through the “Retrospecto-Scope” at a Single UK Centre from 1991 to 2013. Transplantation
Proceedings 46(6): 2114–2118.
Pither, C, S Duncan, A Butler… Bannerman-Chukualim et al. 2014. PTH-123 Quality of Life and performance status
scores following intestinal transplantation are similar to those of patients on home parenteral nutrition in The UK. Gut 63
(Suppl 1Po): A265.
Shameer, S., Logan-Klumpler, F.J., Vinson, F., Cottret, L., Merlet, B., Achcar, F., Boshart, M., Berriman, M., Breitling,
R., Bringaud, F., Bütikofer, P., Cattanach, A. M., Bannerman- Chukualim, B. P. et al. (2014) TrypanoCyc: a community-led
biochemical pathways database for Trypanosoma brucei. Nucleic Acids Res. 43: D637–D644.
Kramer, S., Bannerman-Chukualim, B., Ellis L., Boulden, E. A., Kelly, S, Field, M. C. and Carrington, M. Differential
localization of the two Trypanosoma brucei Poly(A)-binding proteins to the nucleus and RNP granules suggests binding to
distinct mRNA pools. PLOS ONE. 2012:
Pither, C, S Duncan, H Tincknell… Bannerman-Chukualim et al. 2012. PTU-150 Quality of Life before and after
Intestinal Transplantation. Gut 61(Suppl2P): A246.
Wiles, A, Bredin F, Bannerman-Chukualim B, and Middleton, S. 2011. In the Treatment of Flares of Inflammatory
Bowel Disease, Intravenous Hydrocortisone Causes Greater Falls in Blood Potassium and More Severe Episodes of
Hypokalaemia than Methylprednisolone. Gut 60(Suppl 1): A223.
Pither C, Wiles A, Butler A… Bannerman-Chukualim et al. Quality of life in patients undergoing small intestinal
transplantation. Gut 2011;60: A89
Wiles, A., Butler, A., Tincknell, H., Duncan, S., Bannerman-Chukualim, B., Gabe, S., . . . Middleton, S. (2010). Recent
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experience of adult small-intestinal and multi-visceral transplantation at Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge University, UK.
Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, 69(OCE7), E557.
Wiles, A., Butler, A., Tincknell, H., Duncan, S., Bannerman-Chukualim, B., Manaligod, M., . . . Middleton, S. (2010).
The immediate post-operative period following intestinal and multivisceral transplant is marked by profound fluxes of
sodium and fluid: The Cambridge experience. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, 69(OCE7),
Jackson, A. P., Sanders, M., Berry, A., McQuillan, J., Aslett, M. A., Quail, M. A., Bannerman-Chukualim, B. P. et al.
(2010) The genome sequence of Trypanosoma brucei gambiense, Causative agent of chronic Human African
Trypanosomiasis. PLoS Negl. Trop. Dis. 4(4):
Bannerman-Chukualim, B., Peters, N., Fowler, C. H. and Berriman, M. (2008). TrypanoCyc – a metabolic pathway
database for Trypanosoma brucei. BMC Bioinformatics. 9(10): 1–2