Tom is Professor of Haemoglobinopathy Research at Imperial College, London. Tom has worked in Kilifi since May 2000, where he now directs a programme of human genetic research with a focus on polymorphisms of the red blood cell. He obtained his medical degree at Westminster Medical School in the University of London in 1985 and subsequently trained in Paediatrics and Tropical Medicine at a range of London hospitals including Westminster Children’s Hospital, University College, the Hospital for Tropical Diseases and Imperial College. He obtained his PhD on the genetics of malaria resistance in children, from the University of London in 1999. He has published extensively on the burden and clinical consequences of red cell genetic disorders and their relationship with malaria protection, questions which he studies using both laboratory-based and epidemiological approaches.