Chris Drakeley has diplomas in Parasitology and Physiology and is a graduate of the Institute of Biology in Immunology. After working on the anti-malarial drug programme at Burroughs Wellcome, in 1990 he went to the MRC research laboratories in The Gambia as a member of LSHTM research staff. Chris was based at the Ifakara Centre in southern Tanzania as a Post-doctoral biologist before rejoining LSHTM in 1999 and returning to The Gambia. In 2001 Chris went to Moshi in North Eastern Tanzania as part of LSHTM's commitment to the Joint Malaria Programme. He is now a senior lecturer in immuno-epidemiology based in London.