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Professor Deborah Watson-Jones

Professor of Clinical Epidemiology

United Kingdom

Deborah Watson-Jones is Professor of Clinical Epidemiology & International Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. She has been based at the Mwanza Intervention Trials Unit (MITU) in Mwanza, Tanzania since 1995. Her research interests include HPV epidemiology in sub-Saharan Africa, the evaluation of a single dose of prophylactic HPV vaccines in females and males through the DoRIS and Add-Vacc trials in Tanzania, and evaluation of Ebola and COVID-19 vaccines in Sierra Leone and Mpox. She is the principal investigator of the DoRIS and Add-Vacc trials and the co-lead of the Global HPV Burden Study which is measuring the burden of HPV in females in 5 African and 3 South Asian countries. She is a member of the Single-Dose HPV Vaccine Evaluation Consortium, the International Papillomavirus Society, the WHO Blue Print and the WHO Filovirus Collaborative Open Research Consortium (CORC).

 

Affiliations

Department of Clinical Research
Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases

Centres

Centre for Evaluation
Centre for Maternal Adolescent Reproductive & Child Health
Vaccine Centre

Research

Her research interests include the epidemiology and prevention of HPV and related infections and research on HPV vaccine and Ebola vaccines. She has conducted studies in Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Sierra Leone DRC, and Mongolia. Her initial work in Mwanza was on the impact and prevention of congenital syphilis. She was the principal investigator (PI) on the first trial to investigate whether suppressing herpes infections could reduce HIV incidence in Tanzanian females in Mwanza region. She co-led the first trial on the immunogenicity and safety of HPV vaccines in sub-Saharan Africa and led a trial in Mwanza to investigate HPV vaccine delivery strategies. She has led on evaluation of lessons learnt from HPV vaccine introductions in low- and middle-income countries which has informed policy on HPV vaccine delivery.
She is the PI of the DoRIS randomised trial that is currently evaluating the immunogenicity of single-dose HPV vaccines in Tanzanian girls and the Add-Vacc cluster randomised trial evaluating the impact of single dose HPV vaccination to males. She is a member of the Single-Dose HPV Vaccine Evaluation Consortium. She led the EBOVAC1 and EBOVAC3 consortia that evaluated the safety and immunogenicity and provided evidence for the licensing for emergency use of the 2-dose prophylactic Ebola vaccines.


 

Research Area
Clinical trials
Global health
Epidemiology
Immunology
Vaccines
Climate change
Disease and Health Conditions
Human papillomavirus (HPV)
Ebola virus
Infectious diseases
Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs)
Tropical diseases
Syphilis
Marburg virus
Sexually transmitted infections
Country
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Ghana
Nigeria
Sierra Leone
Tanzania
Zambia
Pakistan
Nepal
Bangladesh
Thailand
Region
Sub-Saharan Africa (developing only)
South Asia

Selected Publications

Effect of malaria parasitaemia on antibody responses to single-dose and two-dose HPV vaccination: results from the DoRIS dose-reduction immunogenicity trial in Tanzanian girls.
Whitworth, HS; Beshir, KB; BAISLEY, KJ; Mbwanji, G; Indangasi, J; Kemp, T; Kamala, B; Maxwell, C; Hashim, R; Mukerebe, C; MAYAUD, P; Lowe, B; Gabriel, N; Connor, N; KAPIGA, S; De Sanjose, S; Lacey, CJ; HAYES, RJ; Pinto, L; Changalucha, J; Sutherland, CJ; WATSON-JONES, D;
2026
Vaccine
Comparison of self-collected vaginal swabs and first-void urine for detection of human papillomavirus in sexually active girls and women in three South Asian countries.
Telele, N; Katuwal, N; Kabir, F; Rahman, S; Shahi, SB; Yadav, RR; Aziz, F; Hossain, MA; Hill, AM; Permatasari, I; Lee, Y; Cho, H; Lee, J; You, YA; Ahn, HS; Park, S; Tamrakar, D; Pasha, A; Alam, A; Rahman, FN; Shiblee, S; Ejaz, M; Nisar, MI; Querec, TD; Lawal, BJ; ... Unger, ER.
2026
PLOS One
Message, Messengers and Time: Knowledge and Acceptability of Male among Adolescents and Community Gatekeepers in HPV vaccination Northwest Tanzania Social Sciences in the Add Vacc Trial.
Kelly, S; Changalucha, J; WATSON-JONES, D; Malibwa, D; Ewing, V; Mkungu, G; Kapiga, S; Hayes, R; Baisley, K; Lees, S;
2026
NIMR Annual Joint Scientific Conference (AJSC) 2026
Covid-19 Rumours, Trust and Influence on Male HPV Vaccination Uptake in The Add-Vacc Trial, Northwest Tanzania.
Malibwa, D; Lees, S; Deogratius, D; Ewing, V; Hashim, R; Makungu, G; Kapiga, S; Hayes, R; Baisley, K; Changalucha, J; WATSON-JONES, D; Kelly, S;
2026
AJSC 2026, AICC
Five-year immunogenicity and safety follow-up of the PREVAC randomized Trial of Vaccines for Zaire Ebola Virus Disease
Beavogui, AH; Doumbia, S; Kieh, M; Leigh, B; Sow, S; Lhomme, E; Ben-Farhat, S; Dubois Cauwelaert, N; Roy, C; Diouf, W; Idrissa, S; Diarra, S; Millimouno, NP; Diallo, FA; Kamara, M; Pratt, D; Dicko, I; Kennedy, SB; Espérou, H; Choi, EM; Kpetigo, A-MD; D’Ortenzio, E; Diallo, A; Lancrey-javal, S; Hamzé, B; ... Levy, Y.
2026
openRxiv
A Heterologous 2-dose Strategy for an Ebola Virus Vaccine Using Adenovirus Type 26 and Modified Vaccinia Virus Ankara–Vectored Ebola Induces a Robust, Increased Cellular Immune Response in Sierra Leonean Volunteers
DRAMMEH, A; Turyasingura, MJ; Bisbooka, C; Ssejjoba, M; Ahimbisibwe, G; Nakibuule, M; Kroma, M; Lowe, B; Lawal, BJ; Choi, EM-L; Manno, D; Faye, F; Bangura, A; Williams, TA; Pessima, AS; Bayoh, M; Tia, V; Otieno, GT; Njie, Y; Samai, M; Mclean, C; Whitworth, HS; Ayieko, P; Greenwood, B; WATSON-JONES, D; ... Cose, S.
2026
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Cross-reactive Bundibugyo antibody responses after licensed Ebola vaccines.
Lhomme, E; Wiedemann, A; Ayouba, A; Ben-Farhat, S; Thaurignac, G; Roy, C; Beavogui, AH; Doumbia, S; Kieh, M; Leigh, B; Sow, S; Migueles, SA; WATSON-JONES, D; Yazdanpanah, Y; Thiébaut, R; Peeters, M; Richert, L; Levy, Y;
2026
medRxiv
Contact Networks of Small Mammals Highlight Potential Transmission Foci of Mammarenavirus lassaense.
Simons, D; Goyal, R; Bangura, U; Gibb, R; Rushton, B; Sondufu, D; Lamin, J; Koninga, J; Foday, M; Dawson, M; Lahai, J; Ansumana, R; Fichet-Calvet, E; Kock, R; WATSON-JONES, D; Jones, KE;
2026
The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene
High-risk HPV Types in 3 South Asian Countries among Screening-eligible Women: Implications
for Cervical Cancer Screening from the Global Burden Estimation of Human Papillomavirus
(GLOBE-HPV) Project
Hill, A; Rahman, F; Pasha, A; Manandhar, S; Lee, Y; Telele, N; Ahn, H; Cho, H; Park, S; Permatasari, I; Larsson, E; Unger, E; Alam, A; Shiblee, S; Rahman, M; Rahman, S; Shahi, S; Katuwal, N; Shrestha, S; Shrestha, A; Ejaz, M; Nisar, I; Osmani, S; Parveen, A; WATSON-JONES, D; ... Lynch, J.
2026
#13297
Patterns of blood pressure and factors associated with hypertension among young adults in Ibadan, Nigeria.
Oke, D; Ogah, O; Bello, Y; Lawal, O; Kareem, Y; Adeyemi, O; Olalemi, O; Adedokun, B; Salako, B; Adewole, I; WATSON-JONES, D; Morhason-Bello, I;
2026
BMC cardiovascular disorders
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