Professor David Ross MA BMBCh MSc PhD

Professor of Epidemiology & Internat Public Health

• Affiliation
• Teaching
• Research
• Publications

• 
• Room 105b
• LSHTM
• Keppel Street
• London
• WC1E 7HT
• T: +44 (0)20 7927 2264
• F: +44 (0)20 7636 8739

I grew up in Nigeria and then the UK and qualified as a medical doctor in 1980. Since then I have worked in epidemiology and international public health research and teaching, exclusively working on developing country issues. I have lived for at least a year in Nigeria (1955-1963), Sierra Leone (1981-82), Ethiopia/Sudan (1984-85), Ghana (1988-92), and Tanzania (1997-2002), as well as making short visits to other countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. I joined the staff of LSHTM in 1983 and have worked in all three departments, preferring to work in multi-disciplinary teams both in research and teaching.

Affiliation

• Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology
• Faculty of Epidemiology and Population Health

Teaching

I am a tutor on the DL MSc Epidemiology, and also contribute to the teaching on epidemiology, adolescent health, AIDS, and sexual and reproductive health. I have successfully supervised 9 PhD and 1 DrPH students and am currently supervising 2 PhD students and a DrPH student. I lead an annual two-week short course on Adolescent Health in Low and Middle-Income Countries with colleagues in WHO, and also in collaboration with colleagues in Obafemi Awolowo University in Nigeria, Public Health Foundation of India, UNICEF and UNFPA.I am Chair of the Board of Examiners of the MSc Reproductive and Sexual Health Research in LSHTM.

 

Research

My main current research areas are: HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, adolescent health, and intervention studies. I am currently working with colleagues on studies of missed opportunities for women who test HIV-positive in clinical settings such as antenatal care or as inpatients, being assessed for their own need for antiretroviral therapy (ART); on ART adherence among refugees; and on operational issues related to human papilloma virus vaccine delivery in Kenya and Tanzania. I am Co-PI of the GOAL Trial of the impact of a sports-based HIV prevention intervention among young people in Port Elizabeth and Cape Town, South Africa; and of the MCUTS Trial of a single-session sports-based medical male circumcision promotion intervention among football teams in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. Both trials are in collaboration with Grassroot Soccer, and GOAL also with the Wits HIV Research Institute in Johannesburg and MCUTS with the National University of Science & Technology in Bulawayo. I am also PI on a preliminary study with INDEPTH towards a trial of interventions to increase the uptake of a package of preventive health services by adolescents in two sites, one in African and the other in Asia.

Two recent research interests relate to: (1) alcohol consumption in Africa, where I am involved in studies with colleagues in Ghana and Tanzania; and (2) the health service needs of older persons in Africa, where I am involved in studies with colleagues in Uganda and WHO.

In the past, I have also worked on vitamin A deficiency, health and demographic surveillance systems, measurement of anthropometric status and of cause-specific child mortality, and the health risks and benefits of creches for young children, among other things. From 2006-2011, I was the Director of a DFID-supported research programme, Evidence for Action on HIV Treatment & Care Systems (www.evidence4action.org), in which the LSHTM is working with partner organisations in India, Malawi, Uganda, Zambia and the UK. I was also a Co-PI on a large community randomised controlled trial of an adolescent sexual health intervention in Mwanza, Tanzania which ran from 1997 to 2008 and was known as the MEMA kwa Vijana Project (www.memakwavijana.org), and was the LSHTM Research Team Leader in Mwanza from 1997 to 2002. I was also a co-Investigator on a study of antenatal syphilis screening, a vaginal microbicide (Pro-2000) trial, and herpes suppressive therapy trial in Mwanza.

I am currently on various advisory committees, including Chairing the WHO Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health Department's Technical Steering Committee, and being a member of the UNAIDS M&E Reference Group, and the INDEPTH Scientific Advisory Committee.

• Selected publications

• Alternatives to randomisation in the evaluation of public-health interventions: design challenges and solutions

  Bonell, C.P.; Hargreaves, J.; Cousens, S.; Ross, D.; Hayes, R.; Petticrew, M.; Kirkwood, B.R.;

  Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 2011; 65(7):582-7

• Long-Term Biological and Behavioural Impact of an Adolescent Sexual Health Intervention in Tanzania: Follow-up Survey of the Community-Based MEMA kwa Vijana Trial.

  Doyle, A.M.; Ross, D.A.; Maganja, K.; Baisley, K.; Masesa, C.; Andreasen, A.; Plummer, M.L.; Obasi, A.I.; Weiss, H.A.; Kapiga, S.; Watson-Jones, D.; Changalucha, J.; Hayes, R.J.; for the MEMA kwa Vijana Trial Study Group, .;

  PLoS Med, 2010; 7(6):e1000287

• Impact of the MEMA kwa Vijana Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health Interventions on Use of Health Services by Young People in Rural Mwanza, Tanzania: Results of a Cluster Randomized Trial.

  Larke, N.; Cleophas-Mazige, B.; Plummer, M.L.; Obasi, A.I.; Rwakatare, M.; Todd, J.; Changalucha, J.; Weiss, H.A.; Hayes, R.J.; Ross, D.A.;

  J Adolesc Health, 2010; 47(5):512-22

• Behavioural interventions to reduce HIV risk: what works?

  Ross, D.A.;

  AIDS, 2010; 24 Suppl 4:S4-14

• Effect of Herpes Simplex Suppression on Incidence of HIV among Women in Tanzania.

  Watson-Jones, D.; Weiss, H.A.; Rusizoka, M.; Changalucha, J.; Baisley, K.; Mugeye, K.; Tanton, C.; Ross, D.; Everett, D.; Clayton, T.; Balira, R.; Knight, L.; Hambleton, I.; Le Goff, J.; Belec, L.; Hayes, R.;

  N Engl J Med, 2008; 358(15):1560-71

• Biological and behavioural impact of an adolescent sexual health intervention in Tanzania: a community-randomized trial.

  Ross, D.A.; Changalucha, J.; Obasi, A.I.; Todd, J.; Plummer, M.L.; Cleophas-Mazige, B.; Anemona, A.; Everett, D.; Weiss, H.A.; Mabey, D.C.; Grosskurth, H.; Hayes, R.J.;

  AIDS, 2007; 21(14):1943-55

• Contradictory sexual norms and expectations for young people in rural Northern Tanzania.

  Wight, D.; Plummer, M.L.; Mshana, G.; Wamoyi, J.; Shigongo, Z.S.; Ross, D.A.;

  Soc Sci Med, 2006; 62(4):987-97

• The weight of evidence: a method for assessing the strength of evidence on the effectiveness of HIV prevention interventions among young people.

  Ross, D.A.; Wight, D.; Dowsett, G.; Buve, A.; Obasi, A.I.;

  World Health Organ Tech Rep Ser, 2006; 938:79-102; discussion 317-41

• → View all Professor David Ross's publications

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