I am an Associate Professor in Disability and Global Eye Health working across the International Centre for Evidence in Disability (ICED) and the International Centre for Eye Health (ICEH) at LSHTM.
The overall objective of my research is to support equality of opportunity for people with disabilities and impairments through collection of robust population data on prevalence and aetiology, and inequalities in access to services experienced by these groups. I have a particular interest in strengthening the quality and useability of data, capitalising on digital tools and supporting the capacity of stakeholders to interpret data and statistics to create meaningful change.
I currently lead the development of the Rapid Assessment of Avoidable Blindness (RAAB) survey methodology, repository and community at ICEH, which is a multi-year project with Peek Vision to rebuild RAAB as an end-to-end digital and cloud-based survey solution.
I am also currently working on the development and adaptation of tools to assess and improve the accessibility of primary health facilities for people with disabilities, both in a pilot study in Luuka, Uganda, and with the Missing Billion initiative.
The overall objective of my research is to support equality of opportunity for people with disabilities and impairments through collection of robust population data on prevalence and aetiology, and inequalities in access to services experienced by these groups. I have a particular interest in strengthening the quality and useability of data, capitalising on digital tools and supporting the capacity of stakeholders to interpret data and statistics to create meaningful change.
I currently lead the development of the Rapid Assessment of Avoidable Blindness (RAAB) survey methodology, repository and community at ICEH, which is a multi-year project with Peek Vision to rebuild RAAB as an end-to-end digital and cloud-based survey solution.
I am also currently working on the development and adaptation of tools to assess and improve the accessibility of primary health facilities for people with disabilities, both in a pilot study in Luuka, Uganda, and with the Missing Billion initiative.
Affiliations
Department of Clinical Research
Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases
Teaching
I am co-module organizer of the MSc module Epidemiological Methods applied to Eye Diseases.
I also teach on the following MSc modules:
- Global Disability and Health
- Research Skills for Field Research
- Non Communicable Eye Diseases
I am co-supervisor of Tila Mainga, a Zambart/LSHTM PhD student focused on TB and mental health, and Stephene Maende, a University of Nairobi/LSHTM PhD student focused on the impact of COVID-19 on people with disabilities in Kenya.
I also teach on the following MSc modules:
- Global Disability and Health
- Research Skills for Field Research
- Non Communicable Eye Diseases
I am co-supervisor of Tila Mainga, a Zambart/LSHTM PhD student focused on TB and mental health, and Stephene Maende, a University of Nairobi/LSHTM PhD student focused on the impact of COVID-19 on people with disabilities in Kenya.
Research
Alongside various research design, training and data analysis consulting roles, I have coordinated a number of international disability and eye health research projects at ICED/ICEH including:
- 2017 - present Rapid Assessment of Avoidable Blindness Version 7 Project
- 2022 - present pilot testing a tool to assess and improve the accessibility of primary health facilities for people with disabilities in Luuka,
Uganda
- 2019 Gambia National Eye Health Survey
- 2019 Water, Women and WASH Survey in Vanuatu
- 2016 National Survey of Disability in Guatemala
- 2015-2016 Measuring the Impact of Physical Rehabilitation Project in Myanmar
- 2013-2014 Building the Evidence Base in Disability Project: Cameroon and India
- 2011-2012 The Child Disability Key Informant Project: Bangladesh and Pakistan
In 2018, I completed a Staff PhD based on my work on disability measurement - in particular the relationship between clinical impairment screening and reported activity limitations in population-based surveys.
- 2017 - present Rapid Assessment of Avoidable Blindness Version 7 Project
- 2022 - present pilot testing a tool to assess and improve the accessibility of primary health facilities for people with disabilities in Luuka,
Uganda
- 2019 Gambia National Eye Health Survey
- 2019 Water, Women and WASH Survey in Vanuatu
- 2016 National Survey of Disability in Guatemala
- 2015-2016 Measuring the Impact of Physical Rehabilitation Project in Myanmar
- 2013-2014 Building the Evidence Base in Disability Project: Cameroon and India
- 2011-2012 The Child Disability Key Informant Project: Bangladesh and Pakistan
In 2018, I completed a Staff PhD based on my work on disability measurement - in particular the relationship between clinical impairment screening and reported activity limitations in population-based surveys.
Research Area
Social epidemiology
Epidemiology
Mixed methods research
Research methodology
Disease and Health Conditions
Adults with disabilities
Children with disabilities
Disability
Hearing impairment
Eye health
Country
Australia
Ethiopia
Haiti
Pakistan
Bangladesh
Gambia
India
Palestine
Cameroon
Guatemala
Myanmar
Sierra Leone
Vanuatu
Zimbabwe
Uganda
Region
World
Selected Publications
Adapting and pilot testing a tool to assess the accessibility of primary health facilities for people with disabilities in Luuka District, Uganda.
2024
International journal for equity in health
Prevalence of vision impairment, diabetic retinopathy and disability in adults 50+ in the occupied Palestinian territories.
2024
PLOS global public health
Blood pressure and the hypertension care cascade in The Gambia: Findings from a nationwide survey.
2024
Journal of clinical hypertension (Greenwich, Conn.)
Prevalence of mental distress in adults with and without a history of tuberculosis in an urban Zambian community.
2023
Global mental health (Cambridge, England)
Prevalence and impact of combined vision and hearing (dual sensory) impairment: A scoping review.
2023
PLOS global public health
