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Miss Nerissa Tilouche

Research Fellow

United Kingdom

I am a mixed methods social scientist interested in evaluations of public health interventions.

 

I work on two intervention research projects:

 

The Improving Hospital Opioid Substitution Therapy (iHOST) is an intervention that aims to improve hospital care for people who use opioids by removing barriers to opioid withdrawal management. This is an applied health research project in which we developed and are now evaluating an intervention, that aims to improve opioid substitution therapy in three acute hospitals in England. This is a mixed-methods study including a quasi-experimental quantitative study and a qualitative process evaluation.

 

The Learning Initiative on Norms, Exploitation, and Abuse (LINEA) is a preventative intervention that includes a curriculum and a radio drama, designed to shift social norms and behaviours that drive age-disparate transactional sex (ADTS) among 13 to 15-year-old girls and men in Mwanza, Tanzania. We are conducting a randomised controlled trial to assess the impact of the LINEA radio drama alone versus the radio drama combined with the curriculum.

 

I joined LSHTM at the end of 2016 as a Project Coordinator for several complex multi-partner national and international research grants. In this role, I supported data collection for school-based public health interventions. Drawing on this experience, I decided to move my career more fully into research. To make this transition, I was awarded a two-year NIHR Pre-Fellowship to develop my mixed methods research skills. As part of this fellowship, I pursued the MSc in Public Health at LSHTM 2020. I then worked as a Research Assistant for the Positive Choices Trial, focused primarily on managing the study's baseline survey across 50 schools in England. As of November 2022, I have split my time equally between iHOST and LINEA where I have since been promoted to Research Fellow.

Affiliations

Department of Public Health, Environments and Society
Faculty of Public Health and Policy

Teaching

I am a seminar leader on the Principles of Social Research and Principles and Practice of Public Health modules. I previously led on the Issues in Public Health module. I supervise MSc student projects. 

Selected Publications

Understanding the limited effectiveness of a whole-school relationships and sexual-health programme: fidelity of implementation, reach and acceptability of Positive Choices
MURALEETHARAN, V; PONSFORD, R; MEIKSIN, R; STURGESS, J; TILOUCHE, N; OPONDO, C; McAllister, J; Morris, S; Melendez-Torres, GJ; Hadley, A; Lohan, M; Mercer, CH; Young, H; Campbell, R; Coyle, K; ALLEN, E; BONELL, C;
2026
Sex Education
Development of a Self-Reported Measure of Academic Pressure Among Secondary-School Students: The Academic Pressure Questionnaire.
Mueller, MA E; BONELL, C; Ford, TJ; Gutiérrez Muñoz, C; John, A; Lewis, G; MEIKSIN, R; Murphy, S; Ploubidis, G; PONSFORD, R; Rice, F; Steare, T; Sullivan, A; SUNDARAM, N; TILOUCHE, N; Lewis, G;
2026
Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry
Effects of a whole-school relationships and sexual health intervention on non-competent sexual debut: cluster-randomised trial.
PONSFORD, R; MEIKSIN, R; STURGESS, J; MURALEETHARAN, V; TILOUCHE, N; OPONDO, C; Morris, S; Melendez-Torres, GJ; McAllister, J; SUNDARAM, N; Hadley, A; Lohan, M; Mercer, CH; Young, H; Campbell, R; Coyle, K; ALLEN, E; BONELL, C;
2026
Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health
Factors affecting the implementation of a whole-school relationships and sexual health intervention: staff perspectives from trial-nested qualitative research in English secondary schools
PONSFORD, R; MEIKSIN, R; MURALEETHARAN, V; McAllister, J; TILOUCHE, N; Melendez-Torres, GJ; STURGESS, J; OPONDO, C; Morris, S; Hadley, A; Lohan, M; Mercer, CH; Young, H; Campbell, R; Coyle, K; ALLEN, E; BONELL, C;
2026
Sex Education
Sexual Harassment in Early Adolescence: Findings From a Cross-Sectional Survey in Secondary Schools in England.
Melendez-Torres, GJ; MEIKSIN, R; Ponsford, R; TILOUCHE, N; SUNDARAM, N; STURGESS, J; ALLEN, E; Lohan, M; Young, H; Hadley, A; Campbell, R; BONELL, C;
2025
Violence against women
Sexual harassment in early adolescence: findings from a cross-sectional survey in secondary schools in England
Melendez-Torres, GJ; MEIKSIN, R; PONSFORD, R; TILOUCHE, N; SUNDARAM, N; Sturgess, J; ALLEN, E; Young, H; Hadley, A; Campbell, R; BONELL, C;
2025
Violence against women
Implementation of a whole-school sexual health intervention in English secondary schools: fidelity and qualitative process evaluation
PONSFORD, R; MURALEETHARAN, V; MEIKSIN, R; Sturgess, J; TILOUCHE, N; OPONDO, C; McAlliater, J; Morris, S; Melendez-Torres, GJ; Hadley, A; Lohan, M; Mercer, C; Young, H; Campbell, R; Coyle, K; ALLEN, E; BONELL, C;
2025
16th EUSPR Conference and Members’ Meeting
Exploring experiences, attitudes and norms around age disparate transactional sex (ADTS) of early adolescent girls and boda boda drivers in Mwanza, Tanzania
TILOUCHE, N; Baker, V; Zuakulu, M; PICHON, M; Gourlay, A; Abramsky, T; BULLER, AM; Wamoyi, J;
2025
https://www.ecdv2025.com/agenda?lang=en
The mechanisms by which a whole-school intervention might improve sexual health: qualitative realist research nested in a trial in English secondary schools.
PONSFORD, R; MEIKSIN, R; MURALEETHARAN, V; TILOUCHE, N; Melendez-Torres, GJ; McAllister, J; Lohan, M; Hadley, A; Young, H; Campbell, R; Mercer, C; Coyle, K; STURGESS, J; OPONDO, C; Morris, S; ALLEN, E; BONELL, C;
2025
Social science & medicine (1982)
Interventions to improve access to opioid agonist therapy in acute hospitals: A scoping review.
Lewer, D; TILOUCHE, N; Bradbury, M; Brothers, TD; Holland, A; Hope, V; Gittins, R; Scott, J; Searle, K; Watson, G; HARRIS, M;
2025
PLOS Mental Health
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