Professor Mary Cameron
BSc PhD
Professor
of Medical Entomology
LSHTM
Keppel Street
London
WC1E 7HT
United Kingdom
Fax.
Mary Cameron is a Professor of Medical Entomology in the Department of Disease Control with over 30 years of experience in delivering international level field and laboratory research focusing on the surveillance and control of a wide range of vector-borne diseases, particularly leishmaniasis. Mary obtained a BSc in Zoology from Bedford College, University of London, in 1983, and a PhD in Entomology in 1987. She originally joined the Department of Entomology at LSHTM as a research student in 1984, to study pheromone-elicited oviposition behaviour of mosquitoes, and later investigated the role of phlebotomine sandflies in transmission of disease. In 1990, she left LSHTM to take up a post-doc position at the University of Oxford followed by a Research Fellow position at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. In 1995, Mary re-joined LSHTM and has developed strong collaborative networks on NTDs in multiple disease endemic countries. Her role in current leishmaniasis research projects include: Principal Investigator (PI) of SPEAK India (a consortium conducting operational research to sustain VL elimination in the Indian Subcontinent – see https://speakindia.org.in/), and Co-PI of the BBSRC Gnatwork network (conducting research on sandflies, biting midges and blackflies – see https://www.gnatwork.ac.uk/about/the-gnatwork).
Mary is a Member of the WHO Regional Technical Advisory Group to support the Kala-azar elimination programme in the South-East Asia Region, served as Editor-in-Chief for the journal Medical and Veterinary Entomology for eight years until 2020 and is a co-founder of LSHTM's first spin out company: Vecotech Ltd.
Affiliations
Teaching
Mary was the Programme Director for MSc Medical Entomology for Disease Control (http://www.lshtm.ac.uk/study/masters/msbcdv.html) and MSc Medical Parasitology (http://www.lshtm.ac.uk/study/masters/msmp.html) for 13 years until Dec 2017. At present, she remains committed to the teaching programme and delivers lectures on several face-to-face modules and serves as a Personal Tutor, MSc project supervisor and PhD supervisor.
Research
Presently, Mary is the Principal Investigator of the Bill and Melinda Gates Programme: Setting the Post-Elimination Agenda for Kala-azar in India (SPEAK India) (see: https://www.speakindia.org.in/). The focus of the operational research is to work towards sustained elination of Visceral Leishmaniasis in the Indian Sub-continent. The work comprises four synergistic pillars: Surveillance (partners: Kala Azar Medical Research Centre and the Institute of Tropical Medicine), Mathematical Modelling (partners: Vector Control Research Centre), Transmission (partners: Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences) and Health Systems (partners: Institute Public Health, RMRIMS, CARE, PATH, UNION).
Mary is Co-Director of a BBSRC GCRF network - The gnatwork: building capacity for research on neglected tropical vectors (with Dr Simon Carpenter, The Pirbright Institute). The Gnatwork brings together researchers working on phebotomine sandflies, blackflies and midges and supports early career researchers by delivering training programmes and providing grant support for research projects in ODA countries (see: https://www.gnatwork.ac.uk). The website also provides useful resources and training aids.
Mary serves as the University Supervisor of Laura Jones who is based in Dr Simon Carpenter's laboratory in Pirbright working on her BBSRC studentship: ‘Mosquitoes in the “Endless City”: understanding how urbanisation will influence vector populations’ (2017-2021).
In addition, Mary serves on the Steering Committee of The Global Vector Hub (https://www.lshtm.ac.uk/research/centres-projects-groups/globalvectorhub).