Writer
I am an award-winning and award-losing freelance writer, journalist, editor, and former scientist. I specialise in health, global development, and science in society. My work has been published in The Guardian, Nature, Scientific American, Devex, The Continent, British Medical Journal, SciDev, Huffington Post, EU Observer, Hakai Magazine, and The Republic among others.
Publications/Articles
The Vittles Alternative Guide to Paris Vittles Magazine
Should a smoke free generation also be a vape free generation? British Medical Journal
Japan’s pharma commitment to global health Devex
The missing billions: How to plug the NTD donor gap Devex
How the Mpox Response Has Learned from History Scientific American
Climate Control: Ask people, not robots The Continent
Mpox declaration marks key shift in global health The Continent
Chatbots can’t save broken health systems The Continent
How Paris is preparing for the health threats of the Olympic Games British Medical Journal
Mpox declaration marks key shift in global health The Continent
Global policies on illicit drugs fuel climate injustice in West Africa The Continent
Bad Medicine: Kenya has cancelled a controversial doctor exchange programme with Cuba The Continent
Europe is getting older but who cares? EU Observer
Africa’s reliance on private healthcare is a hazard The Continent
Global rankings don’t give African universities enough credit The Continent
Europe’s surveillance problem with infectious diseases EU Observer
Could Brazil’s community health model ease pressure on NHS general practice? British Medical Journal
‘No progress’ in tackling premature births – UN SciDev
European Union appeals for interdisciplinary collaboration in new funding model Nature
The secretive colonial tribunal crushing Africa’s reforms The Continent
A New Image of Africa’s Future The Republic
Is an ‘African perspective’ on climate change useful? The Continent
Why a court in New York is deciding the future of African debt The Continent
The Rise of Africa’s Fact checkers The Republic
The Scramble for Africa’s Healthcare Workers The Republic
Five Years On, Cholera Threatens to Become Endemic in Haiti Haikai Magazine
Are we ready for the next pandemic? The Guardian
Selling Circumcision for HIV Prevention at the Epicenter of the Global Epidemic Huffington Post
‘Tis the season to catch norovirus The Guardian
Sleeping Sickness: a health scurge that refuses to be put to rest The Guardian
Our aid policy must focus on link between poverty and disease The Guardian
2025
Tarbell Centre for AI Journalism
Grant Award
2024
Association of British Science Writers Awards Finalist
Finalist Research Policy or Funding Story of the Year.
2024
Health Innovation Journalism Fellow
The International Centre For Journalists awards Health Innovation Fellowships to writers and journalists to conduct innovative storytelling in health-related journalism.
Special Project
Science Fictions
Sometime during the pandemic, in early 2020, the Science Museum Group, commissioned acclaimed artist Bedwyr Williams to creatively respond to the Science Museum Group Collection and its move into a new home (the Hawking Building) at the Science and Innovation Park in Wiltshire.
Bedwyr and writer Sally O’Reilly brought together a group of writers from around the country to produce a book of short stories – Science Fictions. The stories span the breadth of time and space, with each writer delving into the museum’s vast and varied collection.
Shell(s) is a short story by Charles Ebikeme that tells the story of what it is like to remember everything. A museum is memory – essentially a conscious decision we make as to what we decide to remember. A handful of people can recall almost every day of their lives in enormous detail – a gift that often becomes both a blessing and a curse.
Write to liberate ideas rather than to avoid scrutiny.