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Sian Clarke

BSc MSc PhD

Professor
of Epidemiology and Global Health

Room
442

LSHTM
Keppel Street
London
WC1E 7HT
United Kingdom

Tel.
+ 44 7612 7833

My research interest is in infectious disease epidemiology, public health and development in low-income countries. The primary aim of my research is the development and evaluation of disease control strategies to improve health in resource-constrained environments, with a specific focus on malaria.

My current research is focussed on: (i) the impact of asymptomatic malaria infections on anaemia, cognition and education; (ii) control of malaria in school-aged children; and (iii) interventions to improve the treatment of malaria and other childhood infections by community health workers, private clinics and drug shops.

I have led numerous intervention studies in sub-Saharan Africa, including randomised trials to evaluate the impact of malaria control in schools; seasonal malaria chemoprevention (SMC) and nutritional interventions in pre-school children; malaria prevention during pregnancy; use of malaria rapid diagnostic tests (mRDTs) by CHWs and drug shop vendors; and integrated community case management (iCCM).

From 2017-2021 I was Co-Director of the LSHTM Malaria Centre - a multidisciplinary cross-faculty network of over 200 malaria researchers at LSHTM.

Affiliations

Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases
Department of Disease Control

Centres

Centre for Evaluation
Malaria Centre
Centre for Maternal Adolescent Reproductive & Child Health (MARCH)
Antimicrobial Resistance Centre (AMR)

Teaching

I am the LSHTM Course Director of the MSc One Health, a masters course run jointly by the Royal Veterinary College and LSHTM

I have previously been the academic co-ordinator of the MSc module on the "Epidemiology and Control of Malaria" for several years 2005-2009, 2015-2018.

I also teach on the following courses:

  • MSc Public Health in Developing Countries
  • MSc Control of Infectious Diseases
  • MSc Epidemiology (distance learning)
  • MSc Infectious Diseases (distance learning)

Research

I have a particular interest in the epidemiology and control of malaria in school-aged children in sub-Saharan Africa, and the consequences of asymptomatic malaria infection on anaemia, cognition and education. I have conducted a number of trials to investigate the impact of intermittent parasite clearance in schools (IPCs) - an approach which shows great promise for this age group. Other current work with Save the Children in Mali explores the effect of combining seasonal malaria chemoprevention with micronutrient supplementation and cognitive stimulation on early child development and school-readiness.

I also have a keen interest in access to medicines and the quality of care, with a particular focus on medical treatment in private sector drug shops. My research examines the following issues: sources of treatment in urban and rural settings; positionality and role of private providers within the health system; veterinary and human drug shops; malaria diagnosis and treatment; iCCM; use of antibiotics; and quality of medicines.

Past research has also examined the spatial epidemiology of malaria in areas of seasonal transmission in West Africa, and low and unstable transmission in the East African Highlands. I have worked in The Gambia, Kenya, Mali, Senegal and Uganda.

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Sian_Clarke

Research Area
Child health
Complex interventions
Diagnostics
Health systems
Maternal health
Micronutrients
Public health
Adolescent health
Health workers
Behaviour change
Chemotherapy
Disease control
Evaluation
Global Health
Impact evaluation
Mixed methods
Implementation research
Private sector
Randomised controlled trials
Schools
Discipline
Epidemiology
Operational research
Disease and Health Conditions
Infectious disease
Malaria
Malnutrition
Vector borne disease
Country
The Gambia
Kenya
Mali
Nigeria
Senegal
Tanzania
Uganda
Region
Sub-Saharan Africa (all income levels)

Selected Publications

Malaria in Middle Childhood and Adolescence
Brooker SJ; Clarke S; Fernando D; Gitonga CW; Nankabirwa J; Schellenberg D; Greenwood B
2017
Disease Control Priorities, Third Edition (Volume 8): Child and Adolescent Health and Development
Investment in child and adolescent health and development: key messages from Disease Control Priorities, 3rd Edition.
Bundy DAP; de Silva N; Horton S; Patton GC; Schultz L; Jamison DT; Disease Control Priorities-3 Child and Adolescent Health and Dev
2017
LANCET
Impact of a malaria intervention package in schools on Plasmodium infection, anaemia and cognitive function in schoolchildren in Mali: a pragmatic cluster-randomised trial.
Clarke SE; Rouhani S; Diarra S; Saye R; Bamadio M; Jones R; Traore D; Traore K; Jukes MC; Thuilliez J
2017
BMJ global health
Impact of introduction of rapid diagnostic tests for malaria on antibiotic prescribing: analysis of observational and randomised studies in public and private healthcare settings.
Hopkins H; Bruxvoort KJ; Cairns ME; Chandler CIR; Leurent B; Ansah EK; Baiden F; Baltzell KA; Björkman A; Burchett HED
2017
BMJ (Clinical research ed)
Introducing rapid tests for malaria into the retail sector: what are the unintended consequences?
Hutchinson E; Hutchison C; Lal S; Hansen K; Kayendeke M; Nabirye C; Magnussen P; Clarke SE; Mbonye A; Chandler CIR
2017
BMJ global health
\"Asymptomatic\" Malaria: A Chronic and Debilitating Infection That Should Be Treated.
Chen I; Clarke SE; Gosling R; Hamainza B; Killeen G; Magill A; O'Meara W; Price RN; Riley EM
2016
PLoS medicine
Technical Brief - Malaria Case Management in the Private Sector
Hopkins H; Bruxvoort K; Goodman C; Ansah E; Yeung S; Clarke S
2016
Fake anti-malarials: start with the facts.
Kaur H; Clarke S; Lalani M; Phanouvong S; Guérin P; McLoughlin A; Wilson BK; Deats M; Plançon A; Hopkins H
2016
Malaria journal
Referral Patterns of Community Health Workers Diagnosing and Treating Malaria: Cluster-Randomized Trials in Two Areas of High- and Low-Malaria Transmission in Southwestern Uganda.
Lal S; Ndyomugenyi R; Magnussen P; Hansen KS; Alexander ND; Paintain L; Chandramohan D; Clarke SE
2016
The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene
'It puts life in us and we feel big': shifts in the local health care system during the introduction of rapid diagnostic tests for malaria into drug shops in Uganda.
Hutchinson E; Chandler C; Clarke S; Lal S; Magnussen P; Kayendeke M; Nabirye C; Kizito J; Mbonye A
2014
Critical public health
Introducing rapid diagnostic tests for malaria into drug shops in Uganda: design and implementation of a cluster randomized trial.
Mbonye AK; Magnussen P; Chandler CIR; Hansen KS; Lal S; Cundill B; Lynch CA; Clarke SE
2014
Trials
Malaria in school-age children in Africa: an increasingly important challenge.
Nankabirwa J; Brooker SJ; Clarke SE; Fernando D; Gitonga CW; Schellenberg D; Greenwood B
2014
Tropical medicine & international health
Effect of intermittent preventive treatment of malaria on health and education in schoolchildren: a cluster-randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.
Clarke SE; Jukes MC; Njagi JK; Khasakhala L; Cundill B; Otido J; Crudder C; Estambale BB; Brooker S
2008
Lancet
Culturally compelling strategies for behaviour change: a social ecology model and case study in malaria prevention.
Panter-Brick C; Clarke SE; Lomas H; Pinder M; Lindsay SW
2006
Social science & medicine (1982)
Malaria morbidity among school children living in two areas of contrasting transmission in western Kenya.
Clarke SE; Brooker S; Njagi JK; Njau E; Estambale B; Muchiri E; Magnussen P
2004
The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene
Risk of malaria attacks in Gambian children is greater away from malaria vector breeding sites.
Clarke SE; Bøgh C; Brown RC; Walraven GEL; Thomas CJ; Lindsay SW
2002
Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
Do untreated bednets protect against malaria?
Clarke SE; Bøgh C; Brown RC; Pinder M; Walraven GE; Lindsay SW
2001
Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
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