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This multidisciplinary Unit focuses on the control of diseases that
are insect-borne, water-borne or associated with poor hygiene – mostly
in developing countries. Much of the research can be categorised as:
evaluating disease control interventions; investigating implementation
strategies – including working with the private sector; understanding
the factors underlying household behaviour in relation to family health;
or determining how control resources can be targeted most efficiently.
Particular attention is paid to research directed at current global
health policy issues, including the gap between policy and practice.
The Unit houses the DFID Resource Centre for Water and Environmental Health (WELL). WELL and the Hygiene Centre make up the Unit's Environmental Health Group, which plays a leadership role in research and operational support for hygiene promotion, water supply and sanitation.
The Unit also houses the largest research group in LSHTM working on
malaria control, including the DFID TARGETs Consortium and many staff
in the Gates Malaria Partnership and includes a major grouping of researchers
using spatial analysis in public health. The Unit's valuable mosquito
colonies are used for testing repellent products and insecticides in
the laboratory.
Current research includes:
- the effect of different levels of malaria transmission in Africa on disease burden;
- the impact of insecticide treated nets (ITN) on villages with varying malaria intensity; the impact of different ITN coverages; alternatives to pyrethroids for ITN and the management of insecticide resistance; long-lasting nets; cattle insecticide sponging for malaria; repellent lamps; pre-treated plastic shelters for refugees;
- the use of intermittent anti-malarial chemoprophylaxis provided to young children through routine immunisation systems; treatment options for malaria during pregnancy;
- combination therapy for malaria cases; strategies for management of drug resistance; economics of malaria control strategies; severe malaria; management and treatment of Plasmodium vivax cases;
- epidemic early warning and detection systems for malaria in East Africa using GIS and RS; imported malaria in the UK ; global warming, environmental change and infectious diseases;
- risk mapping using GIS and RS for planning surveillance and control strategies for Chagas disease control programmes in Latin America and antihelminth programmes in Africa;
- insecticide-impregnated dog collars for visceral leishmaniasis; ITN for leishmaniasis;
- epidemiology and control of dengue; genetic control of disease vectors;
- epidemiology of African trypanosomiasis; cattle sponging for African trypanosomiasis; cattle treatment for African trypanosomiasis;
- technical and health aspects of engineering and environmental interventions in developing countries; participatory development of indicators for urban environmental health improvements; surface water drainage for low-income communities;
- the role of human behaviour in the transmission of water- and excreta-related diseases; methods of measuring hygiene behaviour; costs and effectiveness of interventions to promote hygiene behaviour change; health aspects of the use of waste water and excreta in agriculture.
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My current interests are targeted towards understanding virus entry to and exit from infected cells for, in both of these areas, virus engagement with the cell is crucial to a successful outcome.
