Justin Parkhurst BS MPhil DPhil

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Background

I am a multidisciplinary social scientist with primary interst in policy analysis, including the application of political and sociological concepts to health care use and health policy making. I have an M.Phil in Development Studies and a D.Phil. in Sociology and Social Policy from the University of Oxford (as well as an under-utilised BS in Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania). Most of my current work is focused on HIV/AIDS policy, primarily in Africa. I also am a member of the London International Development Centre.

Teaching

'Health Policy Process and Power' - Lecturer, seminar leader, and Module Organiser

Past seminar leader for 'Sociological Approaches to Health'

Past guest lectures and seminars given at Imperial College London, University College London,University of Oxford, Institute for Tropical Medicine (Antwerp),  and the Makerere University School of Public Health.

Supervision of MSc, PhD, and DrPH students.

Research

Primary research interests:

- HIV/AIDS prevention and policy - in particular in low income settings.

- The use of evidence in policy realms, particularly how ideologies shape and interpret evidence, with consequent impacts on policy discourse and policy ideas.

- Social and structural drivers of HIV risk and vulnerability, including the relationships between poverty, wealth, and HIV infection in different settings.

Past Research work: Maternal Health, including behaviour and decision making for use of services.

Previous member of the Health Systems Development programme, which included investigating access to and utilisation of professional child delivery services in Uganda and Bangladesh.

Current ares of work (including for supervision of PhD/DrPH students*):

- the 'ABC approach' to HIV prevention - including the origins of the concept and the programmatic implications of its use

- structural drivers of HIV, and structural interventions for the prevention of HIV - theories, policies, and effectiveness

- the use of research in policy, and the understandings and political uses of 'evidence'.

- I am currently a member of the DFID supported 'Evidence for Action' Research Consortium on HIV Treatment and Care, concerned with getting research on HIV services into policy and practice.

*Note - I tend to accept one PhD/DrPH student per year, and have a preference for candidates with a strong academic background in the social sciences (sociology, political science, social policy, development studies, etc.)

Selected publications

• Parkhurst, J.; Weller, I.; Kemp, J.; Getting research into policy, or out of practice, in HIV? Lancet, 2010; 375(9724):1414-5
• Gupta, G.R.; Parkhurst, J.O.; Ogden, J.A.; Aggleton, P.; Mahal, A.; Structural approaches to HIV prevention. Lancet, 2008; 372(9640):764-75
• Parkhurst, J. O. The Ugandan success story? Evidence and claims of HIV-1 prevention Lancet, 2002; 360(9326):78-80
• Parkhurst, J.O.; "What Worked?": The Evidence Challenges in Determining the Causes of HIV Prevalence Decline. AIDS Educ Prev, 2008; 20(3):275-83
• Parkhurst, J. The crisis of AIDS and the politics of response: the case of Uganda International Relations, 2001; 15(6):69-87
• Parkhurst, J.O.; Rahman, S.A.; Life saving or money wasting? Perceptions of caesarean sections among users of services in rural Bangladesh. Health Policy, 2006; 80(3):392-401
• Parkhurst, J. O. The response to HIV/AIDS and the construction of national legitimacy: Lessons from Uganda Development and Change, 2005; 36(3):571-590
• Parkhurst, J.O.; Lush, L.; The political environment of HIV: lessons from a comparison of Uganda and South Africa. Soc Sci Med, 2004; 59(9):1913-24

Full publications listing (since 2001)