The Steering Committee consists of:
1. Senior Subject Expert EPH (Chair) – Wendy Graham
Wendy Graham trained at Oxford University, and first joined LSHTM in 1985 where she set-up the School’s first research group dedicated to maternal health. From 1995 to 2015, Wendy was based in the University of Aberdeen’s Medical School and Aberdeen Maternity Hospital, where she remains an Emeritus Professor. Wendy returned to LSHTM in March 2016 and holds a part-time position as Professor of Obstetric Epidemiology
2. Senior Subject Expert EPH – Anthony Scott
Anthony Scott is an infectious disease epidemiologist with a long standing interest in invasive bacterial diseases of children. For the last 25 years he has worked at the KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme in Kilifi, Kenya, where he established integration of clinical, microbiological and demographic surveillance for invasive bacterial infections. He has studied longitudinal trends in anti-microbial resistance in Kilifi and examined risk factors for drug resistant infections. He co-authored the implementation manual for the Fleming Fund surveillance and served on their technical advisory group. He has a particular interest in the use of vaccines to reduce drug resistant infections.
3. Senior Subject Expert MRC The Gambia – Martin Antonio
Professor Martin Antonio is the leader of the molecular biology group at the MRC Unit The Gambia and was recently awarded an honorary professorship at the Division of Microbiology & Immunity, Warwick Medical School, Coventry, UK. He is also the Director of WHO Regional Reference Laboratory for Invasive Bacterial Diseases and the MRC Programme Leader-Track at MRCG. Originally from Ghana, Martin trained in molecular microbiology in the UK and set up the molecular microbiology research group in 2005, when he was first appointed at MRCG. Since then, Martin was instrumental in establishing the molecular capabilities at The Unit. Martin’s research is focused on the leverage of new molecular technologies in diagnosis of tropical infections, investigation of microbial transmission and clinical trials.
4. Senior Subject Expert ITD – Alison Grant
Alison’s main research interest is improving care for people with HIV in developing countries, and preventing TB. Major projects include a cluster-randomised trial investigating a point-of-care TB test and treat algorithm for people with advanced HIV disease in South Africa; evaluation of South African national roll-out of Xpert MTB/RIF, a new TB diagnostic test replacing smear microscopy; investigation of how best to use Xpert MTB/RIF among people attending clinics for HIV care; linkage to care after a rifampicin-resistant Xpert MTB/RIF result in South Africa; and a trial comparing a single round of weekly isoniazid/rifapentine to periodic treatment. In collaboration with colleagues in South Africa, she has been involved with the design, implementation and evaluation of an HIV care programme in workplace and community settings.
5. Senior Subject Expert PHP – Catherine Goodman
Catherine has been working in the field of health economics and health systems analysis at LSHTM since 1997. After a first degree in economics at Cambridge, and a Masters in development economics at SOAS, she spent two years working as an economic planner in the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare in Lesotho. After joining LSHTM her work mainly focused on the economics of malaria control, and she completed a PhD on the retail sector and malaria control in Tanzania. Between 2006 and 2011, she was based with the Kenyan Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) / Wellcome Trust Research Programme in Nairobi. She is now in London again, where her work focuses on understanding the private health care sector, access to malaria treatment and improving peripheral public health facility financial and management systems.
6. Senior Subject Expert LIDC – Claire Heffernan
Claire Heffernan is a veterinarian with training in the social sciences. She joined LIDC from the School of Veterinary Sciences at the University of Bristol where she was Head of Infection and Immunity. Claire has extensive experience of inter-disciplinary research grounded in the challenges faced by poorer communities. For example, in 2000, she founded the Livestock Development Group (LDG) at the School of Agriculture, Policy and Development at the University of Reading. This was in response to the need for a meta-disciplinary approach to the problems faced by the global poor.
7. LSHTM Deputy Director and Provost – Anne Mills
Anne Mills has researched and published widely in the fields of health economics and health systems in low- and middle-income countries and has had continuing involvement in supporting capacity development in health economics in low- and middle-income country universities and research institutions. She has advised multilateral, bilateral and government agencies on numerous occasions, and was a member of WHO’s Commission on Macroeconomics and Health. Anne was President of the International Health Economics Association (iHEA) for 2012-13, and is a fellow of the Royal Society.