Stephen Ray
M.Phil, MRCPCH, MRes, DTM&H, PhD
CLINICAL LECTURER PAEDIATRIC INFECTIOUS DISEASES
I am a paediatric registrar, currently undertaking sub-specialty training in paediatric infectious diseases. My research aims to improve the diagnosis, management, and outcomes of critically ill children with life-threatening infections, with a focus on brain infections, particularly in Low-and-Middle-Income Countries (LMIC).
Academic Foundation (F1/F2) then Clinical Fellowship (ACF ST1-3) with The Liverpool Brain Infections Group sparked my focus on the aetiology and outcomes of paediatric non-traumatic coma in LMIC. These were a springboard to my Wellcome Trust Clinical PhD Fellowship on this subject, with the same research group. My PhD studies were primarily based in Malawi (2018-2022), collaborating with the Blantyre Malaria Project and Malawi Liverpool Wellcome Trust. During this period I was also PI on a national study investigating the neurological manifestations of COVID in children.
I joined the Department of Paediatrics in Oxford in 2023 and continue my interest in improving diagnostic and prognostic markers (including host response) and better understanding the pathobiology driving poor outcomes in central nervous system infections in African children. This work is supported by funding from ESPID, bioMérieux, NIH and The Universities of Liverpool and Oxford.
Recent publications
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Electroencephalogram Features Distinguish Cases of Cerebral Malaria Among Malawian Children With Fever and Coma.
Andrews A. et al, (2025), Clin Infect Dis
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Using Electroencephalography to Assess Coma Etiology in Children with Retinopathy-Negative Cerebral Malaria.
Takle M. et al, (2025), Am J Trop Med Hyg
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The aetiologies, mortality, and disability of non-traumatic coma in African children: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Ray STJ. et al, (2025), Lancet Glob Health
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A multifaceted intervention to improve diagnosis and early management of hospitalised patients with suspected acute brain infections in Brazil, India, and Malawi: an international multicentre intervention study.
Singh B. et al, (2025), Lancet, 405, 991 - 1003
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Aetiologies, neuroradiological features, and risk factors for mortality and long-term neurosequelae of febrile coma in Malawian children: a prospective cohort study
Ray STJ. et al, (2025), The Lancet Global Health
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Are empiric antibiotic choices for orbital cellulitis in children presently unnecessarily broad (and unable to prevent surgery)?
Ray S. and Riordan A., (2024), Arch Dis Child, 109, 873 - 874
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Prothrombotic autoantibodies targeting platelet factor 4/polyanion are associated with pediatric cerebral malaria.
Vera IM. et al, (2024), J Clin Invest, 134
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Cerebral Metabolic Crisis in Pediatric Cerebral Malaria.
O'Brien NF. et al, (2023), J Pediatr Intensive Care, 12, 278 - 288
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Aetiology and outcome of non-traumatic coma in African children: protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Ray STJ. et al, (2021), Syst Rev, 10
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Neurological manifestations of SARS-CoV-2 infection in hospitalised children and adolescents in the UK: a prospective national cohort study.
Ray STJ. et al, (2021), Lancet Child Adolesc Health, 5, 631 - 641