Dr Rein Houben
PhD
Professor
of Infectious Disease Epidemiology
I came to the School in 2006, working primarily on the molecular epidemiology of Tuberculosis. After spending 3 years working on field studies in North Malawi, I moved back to London in 2012 to work in TB modelling, and joined the LSHTM TB modelling group. Since 2014 I have led the development and implementation of the TIME model. My current focus is to examine TB Natural History using modelling tools as part of an ERC Starting Grant.
Affiliations
Centres
Teaching
I have taught on a wide variety of courses in the In House and Distance Learning MSc Epidemiology. Currently I am a module co-organiser for EP202: Statistical Methods in Epidemiology, and departmental Research Degree Coordinator for IDE. I also run the Virtual Ethics Committee in EPM103: Practical Epidemiology.
I currently (co-)supervise 4 PhD students, working on TB natural history, patient catastrophic costs, TB diagnostic algorithms and the male excess in TB burden.
Research
My main research focus is creating mathematical models for academic, policy decisions and capacity building purposes. I lead the development and implementation of TIME, a widely used TB modelling tool. My ERC grant work aims to improve our understanding of TB natural history, with a particular focus on the mechanism and treatment of latent TB infection as well as socio-economic determinants of TB.