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Professor Hannah Kuper

ScD

Professor
of Epidemiology

Room
495

LSHTM
Keppel Street
London
WC1E 7HT
United Kingdom

Tel.
+44 (0)20 7958 8333

I am the co-Director of the International Centre for Evidence in Disability, a research group at LSHTM, together with Professor Tom Shakespeare.

My main research interest is disability in low and middle income countries, with a particular focus on access to healthcare for people with disabilities and measuring the effectiveness of development interventions. My two substantive research roles are: 

  • NIHR Global Research Professor focussing on improving access to healthcare for people with disabilities in Uganda. 
  • Co-research director of the FCDO-funded PENDA grant, which will undertake 10 impact evaluation of disability inclusive development programmes in resource poor settings. 

I co-founded the Missing Billion Initiative, which focuses  on improving access to healthcare for people with disabilities globally, by working with governments, donors, healthcare systems and people with disabilities.  https://www.themissingbillion.org/ 

I have an undergraduate degree from Oxford University in Human Sciences and a doctorate from Harvard University in epidemiology. I have worked at LSHTM since 2002. I joined as a member of the International Centre for Eye Health, undertaking research into the prevalence, impact and control of blindness. I also focussed on other types of impairments, and on quantitative research about disability. I was the co-director of the International Centre for Evidence in Disability 2010-2017, and the director since 2017.

Affiliations

Department of Population Health
Faculty of Epidemiology and Population Health

Teaching

I organise the MSc Study Unit on "Global Disability and Mental Health" and am course leader for three MOOCs. I also lecture on Disability on various MSc courses and the Diploma of Tropical Nursing at LSHTM.

I currently the lead supervisor for four PhD students. Goli Hashemi, Emma Jolley, and Danae Rodrigues areconducting research on access to health services among people with disabilities. Jane Wilbur is investigating the feasibility and acceptability of a menstrual hygiene management programme for women with intellectual disabilities in Nepal. 

I am also the lead supervisor for two DrPH students. Anthony Duttine is investigating the development of parent training programmes for the parents of children with Congenital Zika Syndrome in Brazil. Satish Mishra is assessing how to strengthen rehabilitation policies and capacity. 

Research

I am the co-Director of the International Centre for Evidence on Disability together with Professor Tom Shakespeare. 

My main research interest is disability in low and middle income countries, with a particular focus on access to healthcare for people with disabilities and measuring the effectiveness of development interventions. My two substantive research roles are: 

  • NIHR Global Research Professor focussing on improving access to healthcare for people with disabilities in Uganda. 
  • Co-research director of the FCDO-funded PENDA grant, which will undertake 10 impact evaluation of disability inclusive development programmes in resource poor settings. 

 

 There are three main strands to my research:

1. Assessment of the prevalence of disability and impairments, including in children, and development of new methods in undertaking these surveys (e.g. use of mobile technologies).

2. Investigation of the health and rehabilitation needs of people with disabilities.

3. Developing and testing interventions to improve health and well-being among people with disabilities.

I support partners in LSHTM and externally to integrate consideration of disability into their research.

I am committed to:

  • Conducting research which will help improve the practice of government and NGO agencies in providing effective services for people with disabilities and their families.
  • Working in partnership with people with disabilities and international researchers in all aspects of my work.
Research Area
Ageing
Health inequalities
Health systems
Systematic reviews
Global Health
Older people's health
Rehabilitation
Discipline
Epidemiology
Operational research
Disease and Health Conditions
Cardiovascular disease
Chronic disease
Eye diseases
Disability
Diabetes
Country
Cameroon
India
Kenya
Region
South Asia
Sub-Saharan Africa (all income levels)
World

Selected Publications

The Lancet Global Health Commission on Global Eye Health: vision beyond 2020.
Burton MJ; Ramke J; Marques AP; Bourne RRA; Congdon N; Jones I; Ah Tong BAM; Arunga S; Bachani D; Bascaran C
2021
The Lancet Global Health
Risks of covid-19 hospital admission and death for people with learning disability: population based cohort study using the OpenSAFELY platform.
Williamson EJ; McDonald HI; Bhaskaran K; Walker AJ; Bacon S; Davy S; Schultze A; Tomlinson L; Bates C; Ramsay M
2021
BMJ (Clinical research ed.)
Juntos: A Support Program for Families Impacted by Congenital Zika Syndrome in Brazil.
Duttine A; Smythe T; Calheiros de Sa MR; Ferrite S; Moreira ME; Kuper H
2020
GLOBAL HEALTH-SCIENCE AND PRACTICE
The promise and pitfalls of social science research in an emergency: lessons from studying the Zika epidemic in Brazil, 2015-2016.
Passos MJ; Matta G; Lyra TM; Moreira MEL; Kuper H; Penn-Kekana L; Mendonça M
2020
BMJ global health
Neglected tropical diseases and disability-what is the link?
Kuper H
2019
Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
The association of depression, anxiety, and stress with caring for a child with Congenital Zika Syndrome in Brazil; Results of a cross-sectional study.
Kuper H; Lopes Moreira ME; Barreto de Araújo TV; Valongueiro S; Fernandes S; Pinto M; Lyra TM
2019
PLoS neglected tropical diseases
A Cluster-Randomized Trial to Evaluate the Impact of an Inclusive, Community-Led Total Sanitation Intervention on Sanitation Access for People with Disabilities in Malawi.
Biran A; Danquah L; Chunga J; Schmidt W-P; Holm R; Itimu-Phiri A; Singini W; Jones H; Kuper H; White S
2018
The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene
Debate: can we achieve universal health coverage without a focus on disability?
Kuper H; Hanefeld J
2018
BMC health services research
Social protection for people with disabilities in Tanzania: a mixed methods study
Kuper H; Walsham M; Myamba F; Mesaki S; Mactaggart I; Banks M; Blanchet K
2016
Oxford Development Studies
Prevalence of age-related macular degeneration in Nakuru, Kenya: a cross-sectional population-based study.
Mathenge W; Bastawrous A; Peto T; Leung I; Foster A; Kuper H
2013
PLoS medicine
Evaluating the causal relevance of diverse risk markers: horizontal systematic review.
Kuper H; Nicholson A; Kivimaki M; Aitsi-Selmi A; Cavalleri G; Deanfield JE; Heuschmann P; Jouven X; Malyutina S; Mayosi BM
2009
BMJ
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