Using Leeds knowledge to save lives

Poison Information Coordinator Sherika Whitelocke-Ballingsingh (MPh Public Health 2016) has received international recognition for her work to prevent lead poisoning in children across Jamaica. "Lead exposure can have devastating consequences for children," Sherika said. At low levels of exposure lead poisoning can affect child brain development. At high levels, lead attacks the brain and central nervous system and can result in death. But thanks to Sherika, the threat to children in Jamaica has reduced. "The standards we have put in place to determine lead quantities in paint and help alleviate issues, such as informal battery smelting, affect the entire population of the country." When Sherika came to Leeds on a Chevening Scholarship - a competitive, fully-funded scholarship to undertake a master's course at any UK university - her work to improve public health in Jamaica concentrated upon local impact. "But Leeds shifted my thinking," she said.
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