Miss Julie Watson

Assistant Professor

LSHTM
Keppel Street
London
WC1E 7HT
United Kingdom

My research focuses on the epidemiology of water, sanitation and hygiene related diseases and the design and evaluation of behaviour change interventions to reduce their transmission.

Currently, I am based in Kenya as a Visiting Scientist at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI). In this role I manage a multi-country study to identify food system-related risks for enteric infection in young children in low-income urban areas of Kenya and Mozambique, and design locally appropriate interventions to reduce these risks. I am also the Principal Investigator for two large trials evaluating the effects of a novel handwashing intervention - Surprise Soaps - among refugee and internally displaced children in Sudan and Somalia.

I serve as a technical advisor for the Hygiene Hub and support the design of research tools for various external WASH projects.

Affiliations

Department of Disease Control

Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases

Teaching

I am a distance learning tutor and examiner for the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene MSc module at LSHTM. I also supervise a number of PhD and MSc students undertaking their studies at LSHTM

Research

Research Area

Behaviour change

Child health

Disease control

Environmental Health

Evaluation

Evidence use

Health outcomes

Hygiene

Impact evaluation

Public health

Sanitation

Social and structural determinants of health

Systematic reviews

Water

Epidemiology

Implementation science

Qualitative research

Mixed methods research

Health education and promotion

Disease and Health Conditions

Diarrhoeal diseases

Hospital acquired infection

Malnutrition

Country

Congo

Iraq

Kenya

Mozambique

Myanmar

Region

Middle East & North Africa (all income levels)

South Asia

Sub-Saharan Africa (all income levels)

Selected Publications

Child handwashing in an internally displaced persons camp in Northern Iraq: A qualitative multi-method exploration of motivational drivers and other handwashing determinants.

WATSON, J; CUMMING, O; AUNGER, R; Deola, C; Chase, RP; DREIBELBIS, R;

2020

PLOS ONE

Interventions to improve water supply and quality, sanitation and handwashing facilities in healthcare facilities, and their effect on healthcare-associated infections in low-income and middle-income countries: a systematic review and supplementary scoping review.

WATSON, J; D'MELLO-GUYETT, L; Flynn, E; FALCONER, J; ESTEVES-MILLS, J; Prual, A; Hunter, P; Allegranzi, B; Montgomery, M; CUMMING, O;

2019

BMJ Global Health

Child's play: Harnessing play and curiosity motives to improve child handwashing in a humanitarian setting.

WATSON, J; DREIBELBIS, R; AUNGER, R; Deola, C; King, K; Long, S; Chase, RP; CUMMING, O;

2018

International journal of hygiene and environmental health

Does targeting children with hygiene promotion messages work? The effect of handwashing promotion targeted at children, on diarrhoea, soil-transmitted helminth infections and behaviour change, in low- and middle-income countries.

WATSON, JA; ENSINK, JH J; Ramos, M; Benelli, P; HOLDSWORTH, E; DREIBELBIS, R; CUMMING, O;

2017

Tropical medicine & international health

Data set from a proof-of-concept trial of an intervention designed to improve food hygiene behaviours among caregivers of young children living in low-income areas of Nairobi, Kenya

WATSON, J;

2023

London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

A cluster-randomised controlled equivalence trial of the Surprise Soap handwashing intervention among older children living in a refugee settlement in Sudan.

WATSON, J; Osman, IM-E; Amon-Tanoh, M; Deola, C; MacDougall, A; CUMMING, O;

2023

BMJ global health

Prevalence and risk factors associated with the occurrence of <i>Campylobacter</i> sp. in children aged 6-24 months in peri-urban Nairobi, Kenya.

Kiarie, A; Bebora, L; Gitao, G; Ochien'g, L; Okumu, N; Mutisya, C; Wasonga, J; Masudi, SP; Moodley, A; Amon-Tanoh, MA; WATSON, J; CUMMING, O; Cook, EA J;

2023

Frontiers in public health

Dataset for: Results of a cluster-randomised controlled equivalence trial of the Surprise Soap hand washing intervention among older children living in a refugee settlement in Sudan

WATSON, J;

2023

London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

Effect of a novel hygiene intervention on older children's handwashing in a humanitarian setting in Kahda district, Somalia: A cluster-randomised controlled equivalence trial.

WATSON, J; Amon-Tanoh, MA; Deola, C; Haji, MA; Sheikh, MR; Mohamud, FA; Ali, SY; MACDOUGALL, A; CUMMING, O;

2023

International journal of hygiene and environmental health

Nongovernmental Organization Practitioners' Perspectives on the Challenges and Solutions to Changing Handwashing Behavior in Older Children: A Qualitative Study.

WATSON, J; CUMMING, O; DREIBELBIS, R;