Qualifications

MBBChir, MRCP, MD, FMedSci

Academic background

After undergraduate studies at University of Cambridge and the Royal London Hospital I completed training in General Paediatrics, taking a three-year break to do an MD (University of Cambridge) based on work in Kenya. I was Elected as a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2013.

Research interests

My research concerns newborn, child and adolescent health within global health, with a focus on health systems research, and on implementation science and complex clinical interventions.

Featured publications

Mike English, Jacinta Nzinga, Jacquie Oliwa, Michuki Maina, Dorothy Oluoch, Edwine Barasa, Grace Irimu, Naomi Muinga, Charles Vincent, Jacob McKnight. Improving facility-based care: eliciting tacit knowledge to advance intervention design. BMJ Global Health 2022;7:e009410. https://gh.bmj.com/content/7/8/e009410.citation-tools

English M, Irimu G, Akech S, Aluvaala J, Ogero M, Isaaka L, Malla L, Tuti T, Gathara D, Oliwa J, Agweyu A. Employing learning health system principles to advance research on severe neonatal and paediatric illness in Kenya. BMJ Global Health. 2021 Mar;6(3):e005300. doi: 10.1136/bmjgh-2021-005300.

Mike English, David Gathara, Jacinta Nzinga, Pratap Kumar, Fred Were, Osman Warfa, Edna C Tallam, Mary Nandili, Alfred Obengo, Nancy Abuya, Debra Jackson, Sharon Brownie, Sassy Molyneux, Caroline Jones, Georgina A. V. Murphy, Jacob McKnight. Lessons from a Health Policy and Systems Research Programme exploring quality and coverage of newborn care in Kenya. BMJ Global Health. 2020;5:e001937. https://gh.bmj.com/content/5/1/e001937

Other interests and activities

I enjoy cycling and croquet.

Featured News

COLLEGE |

Professor English and team win Vice-Chancellor’s Research Engagement Award

A project led by the Oxford Nuffield Department of Medicine’s Centre for Global Health Research (CGHR) and the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KMRI) has been celebrated at the 2025 Vice-Chancellor’s Awards. Represented by Christ Church’s Professor Mike English, the international team received the Vice-Chancellor’s Research Engagement Award at a ceremony in the Sheldonian Theatre on 15 May.

Colleagues working on the project Engaging stakeholders to build a Kenyan learning health system’
COLLEGE |

Towards safer hospital care in Africa: a Christ Church Research Centre project

From operating on broken bones and treating malaria to managing childbirth, hospitals in rural Africa provide essential services to their local populations. Yet such services are rarely provided by specialist doctors, and resources are typically scarce. This can have severe consequences for patient safety, with the few reports available suggesting that harm to patients is common. How might this situation be remedied? 

Africa patient safety workshop attendees