Mary Cameron is a Professor of Medical Entomology in the Department of Disease Control (DCD) at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) with over 35 years’ experience in delivering international level field and laboratory research focusing on the surveillance and control of a wide range of vector-borne diseases. Mary has developed strong collaborative networks on Neglected Tropical Diseases in multiple disease endemic countries.
Affiliations
Centres
Teaching
Between 2003-2017, Mary was the MSc Programme Director of Medical Entomology for Disease Control, formerly Biology and Control of Disease Vectors and Medical Parasitology and organised several face-to-face modules.
Currently, Mary is vice-chair of the examination board for MSc Medical Parasitology. She is a tutor, project supervisor, presents lectures and leads practicals for several modules:
3122 – Core Parasitology and Entomology: Ectoparasites: Biology & Control & The peer review process,
3141 – Vector Sampling, Identification and Incrimination: Sampling, ID & incrimination of phlebotomine sandflies & Molecular xenomonitoring, and
3176 – Integrated Vector Management: Control of Leishmaniasis & Control of Mites and Lice.
Research
Mary is presently the Principal Investigator of the Bill and Melinda Gates Programme: Setting the Post-Elimination Agenda for Kala-azar in India (see https://speakindia.org.in/). The focus of the operational research is to work towards sustained elimination of visceral leishmaniasis in the Indian Sub-continent. The work comprises four synergistic pillars: surveillance, mathematical modelling, disease transmission and health systems. The consortium consists of the following partners: with Indian Council of Medical Research, National Centre for Vector-Borne Disease Control Programme, Banaras Hindu University, Institute of Tropical Medicine Antwerp, Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences RMRIMS, Institute of Public Health, PATH, UNION, CARE India, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh.
In addition, Mary is the LSHTM PI on a collaborative project led by Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts Schools of Architecture Design & Conservation with the Ifakara Health Institute, Tanzania funded by the NoVo Foundation. The project will generate a risk-assessment of vector-borne diseases in urban Dar-es-Salaam based on deep learning and remote sensing.
Mary is also on the steering committee of a collaborative project with Wolf-Peter Schmidt (PI) and the Christian Medical College Vellore, India funded by the MRC to understand the epidemiology of scrub typhus and rickettsial infections in a highly endemic rural setting in south India.
Furthermore, Mary is the primary supervisor of Freddy Sarathchandra who is undertaking a PhD, LIDo DPT-funded, defining wing-beat patterns of mosquitoes for automated detection.