Dr Anna Foss MMath PhD

Senior Lecturer in Public Health Education and Mathematical Epidemiology

Anna Foss joined LSHTM in July 2001 after graduating with a Masters of Mathematics (First Class) from the University of Manchester. Her final year Masters project was on different applications of mathematical modelling. During the summer of 2000 she worked as a Research Assistant in the Epidemiology Department of the University of Manchester.

Alongside her work at LSHTM, Anna completed a part-time staff-PhD (awarded June 2007), titled: 'Mathematical modelling of HIV/STI transmission and prevention: methodological issues when dealing with uncertainty'.

In June 2010, Anna was awarded a Distinction for her Postgraduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching (Full Certificate - Modules 1 and 2). 

Anna is a Fellow Member of The Higher Education Academy and also a member of the London International Development Centre.

Affiliation

Teaching

Educational Developer coordinating the academic side of facilitating the expansion of Distance Learning MSc Modules as Standalone Short Courses, including developing promotional and supporting materials, canvassing opinions of senior teaching staff, and working with the Head of Registry on a marketing strategy (Oct 2010 - Sept 2011).

Educational Developer using e-Learning technologies to produce an induction package of study skills materials for Distance Learning and London-based MSc students - leading on the Basic Maths component while also coordinating and contributing to the development of the other components, e.g. Statistics and Epidemiology, English for Academic Purposes, and guidance from the Library (Oct 2010 - Sept 2011).

Educational Supervisor for the Postgraduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching (PGCILT) and conduct PGCILT Summative Teaching Observations (since Sept 2010).

PhD Supervisor (since Sept 2008).

Course Director for the Faculty of Public Health & Policy contribution to the Public Health in Developing Countries MSc (since Sept 2011).

Project Module Organiser for Public Health PGDip/MSc by Distance Learning (since Oct 2008).

Basic Maths Support Coordinator / Module Organiser (since July 2007) and Seminar Leader in the Basic Maths Support Sessions (each Oct since 2002).

Tutor and Project Supervisor / Advisor for the Control of Infectious Diseases MSc (Oct 2002 - Sept 2011).

Course Director for the Faculty of Public Health & Policy contribution to the Control of Infectious Diseases MSc (March 2007 - Sept 2010).

Tutor and Project Supervisor for the Public Health MSc (Feb-Sept 2007) and Project Protocol Reviewer (March 2005 and 2007), and Project Supervisor for the Public Health MSc by Distance Learning (Nov 2008 - Sept 2009).

Project Co-supervisor for the Reproductive and Sexual Health Research MSc (May-Sept 2007).

Taught on the Introduction to Infectious Disease Modelling and its Applications Short Course (each July 2002-2009, inclusive).

Taught on the Modelling and the Dynamics of Infectious Diseases MSc Study Module (each April/May 2002-2009, inclusive).

Research

Anna is a senior modeller in the Social and Mathematical Epidemiology (SaME) Research Group. She has over ten years of experience working on mathematical modelling of HIV/STI transmission, and the impact of prevention interventions in different Asian, African and South American settings, commonly working in close collaboration with overseas partners.

Anna's methodological specialism is in handling uncertainty in mathematical modelling and using mathematics to explore epidemiological questions. Over the past decade she has built up a large body of work in this area, developing mathematical methods of different levels of complexity to address specific HIV/STI transmission questions, with explicit consideration of the structural and parametric uncertainties in model projections. This work has included analyses reflecting the biological uncertainty associated with herpes-HIV interactions, the epidemiological and delivery uncertainties associated with introducing new HIV prevention technologies, such as microbicides, and the behavioural uncertainties associated with trying to make projections about marginalised and hidden groups, such as men who have sex with men in southern India. Her methodological specialism also forms the basis of her involvement with colleagues in the Department of Social and Environmental Health Research (SEHR) on handling behavioural uncertainty when modelling health in the urban environment. Anna's work has included developing approaches to model simplification, exploring parametric uncertainty and using model fitting techniques to infer improved estimates for key uncertain parameters.

Anna's work has primarily been in the HIV Modelling and Economics (HME) subgroup of SaME (formerly the HIVTools Research Group). In Anna's current work she is Principal Investigator (PI) on a project with local collaborators in Bangalore, Southern India, using model fitting techniques with behavioural and epidemiological data on high-risk men who have sex with men to improve our understanding about the sexual behaviour and HIV prevalence among ‘hidden’ low-risk men who have sex with men. She is also currently leading on work, along with a PhD student who she is supporting, to develop methods by which structural drivers for HIV, such as alcohol use and the uncertainties associated with studies on the links between alcohol use and HIV, can be better incorporated into mathematical models. Alongside these projects, Anna is involved in work to adapt the UNAIDS Modes of Transmission model into a more useful tool for decision making in Cambodia, Uganda and Nigeria. 

Anna is also a member of the cross-faculty Centre for the Mathematical Modelling of Infectious Diseases (CMMID).

Research areas

  • Decision analysis
  • Environment
  • HIV/AIDS
  • Public health
  • Sexually transmitted disease
  • Social and structural determinants of health

Disciplines

  • Epidemiology
  • Mathematics
  • Modelling

Other interests

  • Gender
  • MSM
  • Microbicides
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