William Oswald

MHS PhD

Research Fellow

Room

401

LSHTM
Keppel Street
London
WC1E 7HT
United Kingdom

I am an infectious disease epidemiologist interested in the roles of sanitation, hygiene, and water for the control of neglected tropical diseases. I am currently working on the TUMIKIA Project to evaluate the impact of alternative deworming delivery and treatment strategies on soil-transmitted helminth infection in Kenya. I am also the global data systems lead for DeWorm3.

I have a Bachelor’s degree in history from Kenyon College and a Master of Health Science degree from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. I completed my PhD in Epidemiology at Emory University.

Affiliations

Department of Disease Control

Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases

Research

My research focuses on the influence of context upon both behaviours and diseases related to sanitation, hygiene, and water. For my PhD, I used multilevel modelling of trachoma impact survey data from Amhara Region, Ethiopia to examine the effect of community sanitation levels on active trachoma and soil-transmitted helminth infections in children. Also, using a geographic information system to combine survey data with compiled information on environmental and sociodemographic factors, I examined their relationships with community levels of sanitation. My earlier research in Lima, Peru examined the influence of water and sanitation availability in periurban households upon mothers’ handwashing behaviour at critical moments.

Research Area

Child health

Helminths

Hygiene

Public health

Sanitation

Water

Behaviour change

Disease control

Environmental Health

Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

Global Health

Impact evaluation

Implementation research

Qualitative methods

Spatial analysis

Modelling

Discipline

Epidemiology

GIS/Spatial analysis

Disease and Health Conditions

Trachoma

Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs)

Tropical diseases

Soil-transmitted helminths

Country

Bolivia

Ethiopia

Kenya

Peru

Region

Latin America & Caribbean (developing only)

Sub-Saharan Africa (developing only)

Selected Publications

Assessing the feasibility of interrupting the transmission of soil-transmitted helminths through mass drug administration: The DeWorm3 cluster randomized trial protocol.

Ásbjörnsdóttir, K.H. ; Ajjampur, S.S.R. ; Anderson, R.M. ; Bailey, R. ; Gardiner, I. ; Halliday, K.E. ; Ibikounle, M. ; Kalua, K. ; Kang, G. ; Littlewood, D.T.J. ; Luty, A.J.F. ; Means, A.R. ; Oswald, W. ; Pullan, R.L. ; Sarkar, R. ; Schär, F. ; Szpiro, A. ; Truscott, J.E. ; Werkman, M. ; Yard, E. ; Walson, J.L. ; DeWorm3 Trials Team, . ;

2018

PLoS Negl Trop Dis

Association of community sanitation usage with soil-transmitted helminth infections among school-aged children in Amhara Region, Ethiopia.

Oswald, W.E. ; Stewart, A.E. ; Kramer, M.R. ; Endeshaw, T. ; Zerihun, M. ; Melak, B. ; Sata, E. ; Gessese, D. ; Teferi, T. ; Tadesse, Z. ; Guadie, B. ; King, J.D. ; Emerson, P.M. ; Callahan, E.K. ; Freeman, M.C. ; Flanders, W.D. ; Clasen, T.F. ; Moe, C.L. ;

2017

Parasit Vectors

Active trachoma and community use of sanitation, Ethiopia.

2017

Bull World Health Organ

Prediction of Low Community Sanitation Coverage Using Environmental and Sociodemographic Factors in Amhara Region, Ethiopia.

Oswald, W.E. ; Stewart, A.E. ; Flanders, W.D. ; Kramer, M.R. ; Endeshaw, T. ; Zerihun, M. ; Melaku, B. ; Sata, E. ; Gessesse, D. ; Teferi, T. ; Tadesse, Z. ; Guadie, B. ; King, J.D. ; Emerson, P.M. ; Callahan, E.K. ; Moe, C.L. ; Clasen, T.F. ;

2016

Am J Trop Med Hyg

Provision of private, piped water and sewerage connections and directly observed handwashing of mothers in a peri-urban community of Lima, Peru.

Oswald, W.E. ; Hunter, G.C. ; Kramer, M.R. ; Leontsini, E. ; Cabrera, L. ; Lescano, A.G. ; Gilman, R.H. ;

2014

Trop Med Int Health

Development of indicators for measuring outcomes of water safety plans.

Lockhart, G. ; Oswald, W.E. ; Hubbard, B. ; Medlin, E. ; Gelting, R.J. ;

2014

J Water Sanit Hyg Dev

Direct observation of hygiene in a Peruvian shantytown: not enough handwashing and too little water.

Oswald, W.E. ; Hunter, G.C. ; Lescano, A.G. ; Cabrera, L. ; Leontsini, E. ; Pan, W.K. ; Soldan, V.P. ; Gilman, R.H. ;

2008

Trop Med Int Health

Fecal contamination of drinking water within peri-urban households, Lima, Peru.

Oswald, W.E. ; Lescano, A.G. ; Bern, C. ; Calderon, M.M. ; Cabrera, L. ; Gilman, R.H. ;

2007