I joined the Environmental Health Group at LSHTM in 2011. Prior to joining LSHTM, I worked as an epidemiologist at the Dutch National Institute for Public Health (RIVM) where I completed the European Programme for Intervention Epidemiology Training (EPIET). Before that, I was based on the Copperbelt in Zambia where I managed Emory University HIV research projects. I have a BSc First Class Honours degree in Natural Sciences from the University of Birmingham and an MSc in Control of Infectious Diseases from LSHTM.
Affiliations
Centres
Teaching
Most of my face-to-face teaching at LSHTM takes place in Term 2 on the following in-house MSc modules: WASH and Health; Applied Communicable Disease Control and Evaluation of Public Health Interventions. I also give lectures on the Diploma in Tropical Nursing and the Diploma in Tropical Medicine courses.
I am Deputy Module Organiser for the Distance Learning Water and Sanitation Module IDM215.
I am a Personal Tutor and Supervisor of summer projects on the MSc courses Control of Infectious Diseases and Public Health for Development.
Research
My research focuses on the study and measurement of hygiene behaviour and the development and evaluation of behaviour change interventions.
I am currently working on two clinical trials of interventions to interrupt trachoma transmission in Ethiopia. The "Stronger-SAFE trial" is a large, four-arm cluster-randomised controlled trial to test whether enhanced azithromycin treatment (two doses, two weeks apart) combined with targeted transmission-interrupting strategies (face washing and fly control) can more effectively eliminate trachoma than current approaches. I am leading the development and evaluation of the face washing intervention tested in this trial. In the FA-WASH trial we are exploring whether face washing with soap removes Chlamydia trachomatis bacteria from children's faces better than washing with just water.
My PhD research was conducted in Lusaka, Zambia and involved the design and evaluation (outcomes and process) of a multiple behaviour change intervention to control childhood diarrhoea through exclusive breastfeeding, handwashing and use of oral rehydration salts.
I have conducted formative research and been involved in several behaviour change trials in Asia (India, Indonesia, Nepal) and Africa (Zambia, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Ghana).
Selected Publications
