Pincus Fellowship Program Alumnus Matthew Kelly, MD, MPH, Publishes New Pneumonia Research

Matthew Kelly, MD, MPH, an Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Associate Research Professor of Global Health at Duke University School of Medicine, first began studying pneumonia in children in Botswana in 2011, during his time as a David N. Pincus Global Health Fellow. With funding from a Thrasher Early Career Award, Dr. Kelly conducted groundbreaking research that informed the development of new departmental pneumonia treatment guidelines at Princess Marina Hospital in Gaborone, Botswana’s capital city.

In his latest research, Dr. Kelly and his collaborators followed a group of mothers and babies in Botswana to learn more about how the bacteria Streptococcus pneumoniae interacts with other microorganisms in the upper respiratory tract – and how these interactions affect the likelihood that a child will develop pneumococcal infection. Dr. Kelly’s research findings, which were published in the Sept. 11, 2021 issue of The ISME Journal, suggest that the nasopharyngeal microbiome is a new target for interventions to prevent pneumococcal infections in infants and other populations.

You can learn more about these findings on Nature.com.