Dr Joseph Timothy
BSc MSc PhD
Assistant Professor
Spatial Epidemiology - NTDs and Emerging Infections
Originally a neuroscientist working on bipolar disorder and now an infectious disease epidemiologist. My research is focused on NTDs and emerging infectious diseases in sub-Saharan Africa. I am also part of the UK Public Health Rapid Support Team (UKPHRST) and this work has also involved working in Southeast Asia.
Affiliations
Teaching
I am the organiser of the MSc module Spatial Epidemiology in Public Health (3135) alongside Rachel Pullan. I also teach on introduction to disease agents and control (3125) focusing on IDM-NTDs (Buruli ulcer, leprosy, lymphatic filariasis and yaws) and on the Short Course on Tropical Dermatology.
Research
My main research interest is developing new operational approaches for case detection and patient management for NTDs with a particular focus on those presenting with stigmatizing skin lesions (Buruli ulcer, cutaneous leishmaniasis, leprosy, lymphatic fialariasis and yaws). I currently lead a project to assess disease burden and access to care for persons affected by lymphatic filariasis in collaboration with CSRS and the Ministry of Health in Cote d'Ivoire. I am also part of the SHARP research group at LSHTM working on health system interventions for stigmatizing skin diseases in Ethiopia and Ghana.
I also work on surveillance methods for emerging infections with a focus on filoviruses. I am leading a UKPHRST-funded project on using non-invasive serological tools to undestand exposure and transmission of ebolavirus infections in Guinea. Within the wider scope of this work this project we are also conducting ecological surveys of wildlife species alongside longitdunal surveillance in local communities to better understand factors leading to zoonotic exposure events.
All of this work tends to involve a some degree of spatial methods to help understand what is going on and maximise the use of available date.