Karen Edmond MBBS MSc PhD FRCPCH FAFPHM

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Background

Karen is a consultant paediatrician and paediatric epidemiologist with a background in clinical paediatrics and child health program development in Australia. She joined LSHTM in June 2001. Karen is developing an active program of research work in infectious disease epidemiology in neonates and young infants living in deprived and marginalized communities. This includes studies on infectious disease aetiology, assessing the importance of novel and underutilized vaccines, testing the impact of nutritional interventions (such as vitamin A supplementation and breastfeeding) on infectious disease outcomes in term and low birth weight infants, assessing interactions between nutritional and vaccine related interventions and evaluating the long term neurodevelopmental sequelae of these interventions. The emphasis is on developing an evidence base for feasible interventions that can influence public health policy and practice and an increasingly active role in public health policy and practice. The position also involves working with the Global Alliance for Vaccines Initiative (GAVI) and the World Health Organization (WHO) (Geneva HQ, EURO region and WPRO region) to define disease burden and vaccine impact in countries introducing new and under utilised vaccines and to undertake research activities necessary to make evidence based decisions on vaccine introduction. In addition, in August 2009 was awarded a large USD grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation as Principal Investigator for a large randomized controlled trial of the impact of neonatal vitamin A supplementation on neonatal and infant mortality in rural Ghana. Other current roles include: membership of the WHO Child Health Epidemiology Reference Group (CHERG) neonatal infections group which is developing the global estimates for neonatal septiacemia; leadership of the CHERG group which is assessing the role of Group B streptococcus in neonates in developing countries; leadership of the CHERG group which is developing the estimates of the global burden of sequeale from meningitis; membership of the WHO working group on nutrition in low birth weight infants; membership of the UK Department for International Development (DFID) Research Programme Consortium "Towards 4 and 5" which aims to develop the evidence-base for mother and infant care at facility and community level in low income countries; and consultant for WHO EURO in new vaccine surveillance systems. Karen is also an honorary consultant in paediatrics at University College London Hospital.

Teaching

Karen is a lecturer and examiner in the Diploma of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (DTM&H) at LSHTM, lectures in the LSHTM Epidemiology and Control of Communicable Diseases study unit, and supervises LSHTM Masters of Science and PhD students. Karen also assists with research degree coordination for the LSHTM Infectious Disease Epidemiology Unit and assists with other vaccine courses and initiatives such as the International Vaccine Institute (IVI) in Korea

Research

Please see above

Selected publications

• Edmond, K.M.; Quigley, M.A.; Zandoh, C.; Danso, S.; Hurt, C.; Agyei, S.O.; Kirkwood, B.R.; Diagnostic accuracy of verbal autopsies in ascertaining the causes of stillbirths and neonatal deaths in rural Ghana. Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol, 2008; 22(5):417-29
• Edmond, K.M.; Quigley, M.A.; Zandoh, C.; Danso, S.; Hurt, C.; Agyei, S.O.; Kirkwood, B.R.; Aetiology of stillbirths and neonatal deaths in rural Ghana: implications for health programming in developing countries. Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol, 2008; 22(5):430-7
• Edmond, K.M.; Zandoh, C.; Quigley, M.A.; Amenga-Etego, S.; Owusu-Agyei, S.; Kirkwood, B.R.; Delayed breastfeeding initiation increases risk of neonatal mortality. Pediatrics, 2006; 117(3):e380-6
• Edmond, K.M.; Kirkwood, B.R.; Amenga-Etego, S.; Owusu-Agyei, S.; Hurt, L.S.; Effect of early infant feeding practices on infection-specific neonatal mortality: an investigation of the causal links with observational data from rural Ghana. Am J Clin Nutr, 2007; 86(4):1126-31
• Edmond, K.M.; Kirkwood, B.R.; Tawiah, C.A.; Agyei, S.O.; Impact of early infant feeding practices on mortality in low birth weight infants from rural Ghana. J Perinatol, 2008; 28(6):438-44
• Edmond, K.; Bahl, R. Optimal feeding of the low birth weight infant. Technical review. World Health Organization (Geneva) 2007 :1-121
• Bahl, R.; Frost, C.; Kirkwood, B.R.; Edmond, K.; Martines, J.; Bhandari, N.; Arthur, P.; Infant feeding patterns and risks of death and hospitalization in the first half of infancy: multicentre cohort study. Bull World Health Organ, 2005; 83(6):418-26
• Edmond, K.; Currie, B.; Brewster, D.; Kilburn, C. Pediatric Melioidosis in Tropical Australia Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal, 2003; 17:79-82

Full publications listing (since 2001)