Betty Kirkwood Ma MSc DIC FFPH FMedSci
- Room 181
- LSHTM
- Keppel Street
- London
- WC1E 7HT
- T: +44 20 7958 8105 (or 8149)
- F: +44 20 7958 8111
I am an epidemiologist with a statistical background and have worked at the School since 1979. My research has been driven by a desire to improve the health of young children in low and middle income countries, and of their mothers. My substantive research is accompanied by a commitment to translating research findings into health policy and programme action and to research capacity strengthening. I have an extensive network of overseas collaborators and close links with the World Health Organization. I am a fellow of the UK Faculty of Public Health and of the Academy of Medical Sciences.
Affiliation
- Department of Nutrition and Public Health Intervention Research
- Faculty of Epidemiology and Population Health
Teaching
I contribute to a range of in house MSc courses including epidemiology in practice, statistics with computing, study design, public health lecture series, and current issues in safe motherhood and perinatal health. I am tutor to the MSc Public Health in Developing Countries. I enjoy teaching and believe in a student-centred, problem-based approach. I am committed to making complex methodological concepts accessible to non-specialists; this led to my textbook “Essential Medical Statistics”, first published in 1988. The second edition of Essential Medical Statistics is co-authored with Jonathan Sterne and was published in May 2003 (http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/essentialmedstats/). I also very much enjoy tutoring research degree students.
Research
My main current research interests are trials evaluating the impact of:
- home visits by community volunteers to reduce neonatal mortality in rural Ghana;
- an integrated community-based intervention to improve child development, growth and survival in India & Pakistan;
- newborn vitamin A supplementation;
- innovations to improve performance of community based agents delivering integrated management of common childhood illnesses in Uganda & Mozambique;
- public health interventions to detect and treat common mental disorders in Goa;
- improved cooking stoves to reduce low birthweight and infant pneumonia in Ghana.
I am also a member of the strategic management group for the Informed Decisions for Actions (IDEAS) project, which aims to build a better evidence base to guide future maternal and newborn health programmes.
Research areas
- Child health
- Clinical trials
- Complex interventions
- Malnutrition
- Mental health
- Micronutrients
- Perinatal health
Disciplines
- Epidemiology
- Nutrition
- Statistics
Other interests
- Behaviour Change
- Child Development
- Child Survival
- Cluster Randomised Trials
- Community Based Health Agents
- Member Of MARCH
- Pakistan
-
Selected publications
-
India: Towards Universal Health Coverage 2 Reproductive health, and child health and nutrition in India: meeting the challenge
Paul, V.K.; Sachdev, H.S.; Mavalankar, D.; Ramachandran, P.; Sankar, M.J.; Bhandari, N.; Sreenivas, V.; Sundararaman, T.; Govil, D.; Osrin, D.; Kirkwood, B.
Lancet, 2011; 377(9762):332-349
-
Effect of vitamin A supplementation in women of reproductive age on maternal survival in Ghana (ObaapaVitA): a cluster-randomised, placebo-controlled trial.
Kirkwood, B.R.; Hurt, L.; Amenga-Etego, S.; Tawiah, C.; Zandoh, C.; Danso, S.; Hurt, C.; Edmond, K.; Hill, Z.; Ten Asbroek, G.; Fenty, J.; Owusu-Agyei, S.; Campbell, O.; Arthur, P.; for the ObaapaVitA Trial Team, .;
Lancet, 2010;
-
NEWHINTS cluster randomised trial to evaluate the impact on neonatal mortality in rural Ghana of routine home visits to provide a package of essential newborn care interventions in the third trimester of pregnancy and the first week of life: trial protocol.
Kirkwood, B.R.; Manu, A.; Tawiah-Agyemang, C.; ten Asbroek, G.; Gyan, T.; Weobong, B.; Lewandowski, R.E.; Soremekun, S.; Danso, S.; Pitt, C.; Hanson, K.; Owusu-Agyei, S.; Hill, Z.;
Trials, 2010; 11:58
-
Seroprotection associated with infant vitamin A supplementation given with vaccines is not related to antibody affinity to Hepatitis B and Haemophilus influenzae type b vaccines.
Newton, S.; Filteau, S.; Owusu-Agyei, S.; Ampofo, W.; Kirkwood, B.R.;
Vaccine, 2010;
-
Effectiveness of an intervention led by lay health counsellors for depressive and anxiety disorders in primary care in Goa, India (MANAS): a cluster randomised controlled trial.
Patel, V.; Weiss, H.A.; Chowdhary, N.; Naik, S.; Pednekar, S.; Chatterjee, S.; De Silva, M.J.; Bhat, B.; Araya, R.; King, M.; Simon, G.; Verdeli, H.; Kirkwood, B.R.;
Lancet, 2010;
-
Maternal and Child Undernutrition 3 - What works? Interventions for maternal and child undernutrition and survival
Bhutta, Z.A.; Ahmed, T.; Black, R.E.; Cousens, S.; Dewey, K.; Giugliani, E.; Haider, B.A.; Kirkwood, B.; Morris, S.S.; Sachdev, H.P.S.; Shekar, M.
Lancet, 2008; 371(9610):417-440
-
Beyond symptom recognition: care-seeking for ill newborns in rural Ghana.
Bazzano, A.N.; Kirkwood, B.R.; Tawiah-Agyemang, C.; Owusu-Agyei, S.; Adongo, P.B.;
Trop Med Int Health, 2008; 13(1):123-8
-
Delayed breastfeeding initiation increases risk of neonatal mortality.
Edmond, K.M.; Zandoh, C.; Quigley, M.A.; Amenga-Etego, S.; Owusu-Agyei, S.; Kirkwood, B.R.;
Pediatrics, 2006; 117(3):e380-6
- → View all Betty Kirkwood's publications
