Anna Foss MMath PhD

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Background

Anna Foss joined LSHTM in July 2001 after graduating with a Masters of Mathematics (First Class, with honours) from the University of Manchester. Her final year Masters project was on different applications of mathematical modelling. During the summer of 2000 she worked as a Research Assistant in the Epidemiology Department of the University of Manchester.

Alongside her work at LSHTM, Anna completed a part-time staff-PhD (awarded June 2007), titled: 'Mathematical modelling of HIV/STI transmission and prevention: methodological issues when dealing with uncertainty'.

In June 2010, Anna was awarded a Distinction for her Postgraduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching (Full Certificate - Modules 1 and 2). 

Anna is also a member of the London International Development Centre.

Teaching

Course Director for the Faculty of Public Health & Policy component of the Control of Infectious Diseases MSc (since March 2007).

Distance Learning Project Module Organiser for Public Health PGDip/MSc and Health Systems Management PGDip/MSc (since Oct 2008).

Basic Maths Support Coordinator / Module Organiser (since July 2007) and Seminar Leader in the Basic Maths Support Sessions (each Oct since 2002).

Tutor and Project Advisor / Project Supervisor for the Control of Infectious Diseases MSc (since Oct 2002).

Tutor and Project Supervisor for the Public Health MSc (Feb-Sept 2007) and Project Protocol Reviewer (March 2005 and 2007), and Project Supervisor for the Public Health MSc by Distance Learning (Nov 2008 - Sept 2009).

Project Co-supervisor for the Reproductive and Sexual Health Research MSc (May-Sept 2007).

Taught on the Introduction to Infectious Disease Modelling and its Applications Short Course (each July 2002-2009, inclusive).

Taught on the Modelling and the Dynamics of Infectious Diseases MSc Study Module (each April/May 2002-2009, inclusive).

Research

Anna has nine years of experience working on mathematical modelling of HIV/STI transmission, and the impact of current and future prevention interventions in different Asian, African and South American settings, as part of the Social and Mathematical Epidemiology (SaME): HIV Modelling and Economics Group (formerly the HIVTools Research Group).

Anna's methodological specialism is in handling behavioural uncertainty in modelling, and using social science research to inform modelling approaches and structures. This specialism is a key aspect across her core applied research theme of gender and HIV (including (i) microbicides, (ii) men who have sex with men and (iii) structural factors/interventions for HIV), and forms the basis of her involvement in research on handling behavioural uncertainty when modelling health in the urban environment.

Anna's work has involved using modelling to assess how an individual's HIV risk may be affected by the introduction of an efficacious microbicide or HIV vaccine. She has also been modelling the impact of HIV/STI prevention interventions among injecting drug users and female sex workers in Bangladesh, and among female sex workers, their clients and men who have sex with men (MSM) in southern India. In order to aid in the development of model inputs, she has conducted a systematic review of the literature on the levels of condom use achieved post-intervention within different types of partnerships across Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. More recently, Anna has been modelling the interaction between Herpes simplex virus type-2 (HSV-2) and HIV among female sex workers and their clients in a southern Indian setting, to assess the contribution HSV-2 makes to the HIV epidemic in that population.

Anna is currently involved in using modelling to estimate the potential impact of a rectal microbicide used by MSM in Bangalore, India and Lima, Peru, along with work related to the vaginal microbicide effectiveness trials and considering potential future distribution strategies. Building on this work, Anna is now leading on a Wellcome-funded project using data from Bangalore to explore whether it is important for models to incorporate behavioural heterogeneity among MSM in order to predict the HIV epidemic and estimate the potential impact of interventions. She is also working with colleagues in the Gender Violence & Health Centre (also in SaME) to link social science research with epidemiological modelling in order to explore questions around the importance of the relative mobility of sex workers and clients, and the increase in individual risk of HIV infection from rape.

Since March 2007, Anna has additionally become involved in the handling of uncertainty in environmental health impact modelling of settings in the UK/Europe.

Selected publications

• Foss, A.M.; Vickerman, P.T.; Mayaud, P.; Weiss, H.; Ramesh, B.M.; Reza-Paul, S.; Washington, R.; Blanchard, J.; Moses, S.; Lowndes, C.M.; Alary, M.; Watts, C.H.; Modelling the interactions between HSV-2 and HIV: implications for the HIV epidemic in southern India Sex Transm Infect, In Press;
• Vickerman, P.; Foss, A.M.; Pickles, M.; Deering, K.; Verma, S.; Demers, E.; Moses, S.; Alary, M.; Boily, M.-C. Is the Indian HIV epidemic driven by commercial sex? A modelling analysis from south India AIDS, 2010; (in press)
• Pickles, M.; Foss, A.M.; Vickerman, P.; Deering, K.; Verma, S.; Demers, E.; Washington, R.; Ramesh, B.M.; Moses, S.; Blanchard, J.; Lowndes, C.M.; Alary, M.; Reza-Paul, S.; Boily, M.C. Interim modelling analysis to validate reported increases in condom use and assess HIV infections averted among female sex workers and clients in southern India following a targeted HIV prevention programme Sexually Transmitted Infections, 2010; 86:I33-I43
• Foss, A.M.; Vickerman, P.T.; Chalabi, Z.; Mayaud, P.; Alary, M.; Watts, C.H.; Dynamic Modeling of Herpes Simplex Virus Type-2 (HSV-2) Transmission: Issues in Structural Uncertainty. Bull Math Biol, 2009; 71(3):720-49
• Vickerman, P.; Foss, A.; Watts, C.; Using Modeling to Explore the Degree to Which a Microbicide's Sexually Transmitted Infection Efficacy May Contribute to the HIV Effectiveness Measured in Phase 3 Microbicide Trials. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr, 2008; 48(4):460-7
• Foss, A.M.; Watts, C.H.; Vickerman, P.; Azim, T.; Guinness, L.; Ahmed, M.; Rodericks, A.; Jana, S.; Could the CARE-SHAKTI intervention for injecting drug users be maintaining the low HIV prevalence in Dhaka, Bangladesh? Addiction, 2007; 102(1):114-25
• Foss, A.M.; Hossain, M.; Vickerman, P.T.; Watts, C.H.; A systematic review of published evidence on intervention impact on condom use in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. Sex Transm Infect, 2007; 83(7):510-6
• Foss, A. M.; Watts, C. H.; Vickerman, P.; Heise, L. Condoms and prevention of HIV - Are essential and effective, but additional methods are also needed British Medical Journal, 2004; 329(7459):185

Full publications listing (since 2001)