Practical Epidemiology - Using Epidemiology to Support Primary Health Care

An updated version of Practical Epidemiology, by Patrick Vaughan (previously head of the International Statistics & Epidemiology Group), Cesar Victora, and A Mushtaque R Chowdhury is available here in both Open Access and paperback formats.

Adolescents Living Our Best Lives: HIV and Beyond

This is the theme of this year’s International Workshop on HIV & Adolescence, which will take place on 29-30 September and 6-7 October. Details from the conference organisers:

Have you recently heard a young person talk about "living their best lives"? That is what we are wanting to explore during this year’s international workshop. In previous workshops, we have focused on a number of areas that speak to the HIV-specific needs of adolescents living with and affected by HIV. This workshop aims to look at the fuller lives of adolescents, including their mental health, experiences of violence, the social and economic contexts they grapple with, how they use digital technology to navigate the world, and how they take control of their own health and lives. These topics have an impact on the ability of adolescents to lead healthy lives. Join us to hear from experts, many of whom are young people, to learn about tried and tested initiatives and strategies that support adolescents to be healthy and live their best lives!

Register here

Read more here 

Submit an abstract here - Deadline: Friday, 30 July 2021  

Abstract Topics

• Developing Resilience: Mental Health and Psychosocial Support for Adolescents
• Digital Technology: Connecting, Informing, and Delivering Adolescent SRH and HIV Services
• Into the Future: Biomedical HIV Prevention, HIV Treatment, and the Cure
• Key Populations
• Self-Care: Empowering Adolescents to Take Charge of Their SRH and HIV Care
• Staying Safe: Addressing Gender-Based Violence and Violence in the Home
• Social Protection and Economic Interventions: Driving Better HIV and SRH Outcomes for Adolescents

In addition to these topics, the following two topics are cross-cutting for all sessions.

• COVID-19 & Adolescence
• Adolescence-Friendly Health Services

2021 ISEG Fellowship

We are now accepting applications for the 2021 ISEG Fellowship. Please visit the Fellowship page for information about how to apply. Applications should be made via the online portal.

Closing date for applications: Sunday 25 April

Former ISEG Fellow, Sharon Ayayo shares her experiences completing her Master's degree in Medical Statistics

Great things about a master’s degree in Medical Statistics. My Experience.

They say Master’s students are usually more mature, more wise, more determined, more hardworking and better at multitasking. Is this true? Of course, it is, however, it is assumed that postgraduate students never have time to do anything else but study. Now this is definitely not true. In fact, it’s just all about the balance. Being a postgraduate student is actually more fun than people think it is. This is something I came to realize once I started my course. Even though there were some challenges especially due to the covid-19 pandemic where we had to transition from face-to-face learning to attending online classes on our beds in our pyjamas, generally I enjoyed my studies! Here is why:

1. Just being a Master’s student

Studying at postgraduate level is no joke. The fact that not everyone decides to do a Master’s, especially in my country is already evident in itself. That it is simply not the easiest thing. For me being a Medical Statistics student at LSHTM was truly an accomplishment as this has been my dream ever since! Being my first time abroad, it was a fascinating experience to socialize with people from all over the world, learn new cultures, try different amazing cuisines and not to forget adapting to the cold weather.

2. Ability To specialize

By studying a postgraduate degree, you have already mastered *pun intended* what you specifically want to do in life; unlike at undergraduate level, where most times, people are testing the waters with their career choices. In fact, this was the case for me as when I graduated for my undergraduate degree in Statistics, I wasn’t exactly sure of my career path. Thank goodness for postgraduate study as, I realized that Medical Statistics was my suitable career choice. Additionally, with my degree in Medical Statistics, I have been able to learn specific important topics within just one year.

3. Learning how to make the most of your time 

It’s only one year. One year to do all you can. One year to be all you can. You only realize time flies when that one-year sprints past you. Being a Medical Statistics student has taught me how to balance a lot of things at once. Especially for international students like me, you want to make the most of your opportunity to study abroad. I am truly grateful for the ISEG Fellowship programme for enabling me to do all this.

What I find appealing about the ISEG Fellowship programme is that, besides offering a full scholarship for your Master’s degree in Medical Statistics, they also provide a one year placement at their partner centres in Africa which enables you to gain the relevant work experience as a statistician thereby developing more in your career. In addition to that, they also offer capacity strengthening and training opportunities to their fellows. So if you are wishing to apply for this programme, my advice for you would be simple, believe in yourselves wholly and completely. Undoubtedly and unequivocally. If you don’t how can you expect someone else to? Trust me no one will be there to do it for you. Have your own back, no one is going to push you and drive you like you can and should for yourself. So, get up, shut up and chase your dreams. This is the best programme that you will ever find!

Turning houses into ‘lethal mosquito lures’ nearly halves incidence of malaria in children in African trial

A new type of malaria intervention that involves turning houses into lethal lures has significantly reduced incidence of malaria among children in Côte d’Ivoire, Africa, according to new research published in The Lancet. The study was led by Penn State, the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Institut Pierre Richet, Côte d’Ivoire and the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, and was funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Study Co-PI and ISEG member Jackie Cook told us “These results are very exciting. Bed nets have been the standard malaria intervention for decades and have resulted in a large reduction in disease but there are still countries, such as Cote d’Ivoire, where malaria is still a huge problem. New tools to control the disease are urgently needed. Our trial has shown that Eave Tubes combined with house screening can reduce malaria in children by 40%, and even more in villages where we had higher coverage of the intervention. This intervention could potentially save a huge number of lives if it was scaled up”. Read the full story here.

£4.2m funding boost to improve menstrual health in Ugandan schools

A new study, led by Helen Weiss, Professor of Epidemiology and Director of ISEG, in partnership with the MRC/UVRI & LSHTM Uganda Research Unit, WoMena Uganda, and UCL, aims to improve teenage girls’ ability to manage their menstruation with confidence, and therefore improve their educational performance, mental health and quality of life.

Read the full story here

We’re changing our name

Prompted by the decolonising global health movement we are changing the name of our group to remove the word “Tropical” and create a name that more accurately reflects our expertise. A working group comprising current staff, and students who were previously awarded an MSc training fellowship by the group, undertook a thorough consultative process to discuss a new name and new strapline. With immediate effect our new name is the MRC International Statistics and Epidemiology Group (abbreviated to ISEG). This will be accompanied by a strapline “Collaborating with international research partners to improve health in low and middle-income countries”, which reflects both our geographical focus and our commitment to collaborative research.

Webinar series: Data Collection in A Covid-19 Era.

The EPH project on remote data collection team, which includes the Director of ISEG, Professor Helen Weiss, recently held a webinar series exploring how we can design methods and navigate challenges during the Covid-19 pandemic. You can view the recordings below.

Session one: Ethical issues with data collection in a COVID-19 era

Watch the recording

Session two: Qualitative data collection in a COVID-19 era: methods, challenges and opportunities

Watch the recording

Session three: Quantitative data collection in a COVID-19 era: methods, challenges and opportunities

Watch the recording

Helen Weiss and Pontiano Kaleebu elected as Fellows of the Academy of Medical Sciences

Professor Helen Weiss and Professor Pontiano Kaleebu have been elected as Fellows of the Academy of Medical Sciences. Find out more here

LSHTM pays tribute to Professor Gita Ramjee

It was with great sadness that we learned of the death of Professor Gita Ramjee, Honorary Professor in the Faculty of Epidemiology and Population Health at LSHTM on Tuesday 31 March. Read the full tribute here

Introducing the E-Value: Thursday 13^th Feb 2020, 17:30, John Snow B

Join us on Thursday 13^th Feb at 17:30 for a seminar on the E-Value presented by Tyler J VanderWeele.  Seminar open to all.

Tyler J. VanderWeele, Ph.D., is the John L. Loeb and Frances Lehman Loeb Professor of Epidemiology in the Departments of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Director of the Human Flourishing Program and Co-Director of the Initiative on Health, Religion and spirituality at Harvard University, and 2019-2020 Eastman Visiting Professor at the University of Oxford. His research concerns methodology for distinguishing between association and causation in observational studies, and the use of statistical and counterfactual ideas to formalize and advance epidemiologic theory and methods. His empirical research spans psychiatric, perinatal, and social epidemiology; the science of happiness and flourishing; and the study of religion and health, including both religion and population health and the role of religion and spirituality in end-of-life care. He is the recipient of the 2017 COPSS Presidents' Award from the Committee of Presidents of Statistical Societies.

Feminem Podcast

ISEG Director Prof Helen Weiss features on the Feminem podcast discussing careers in epidemiology, gender equity in leadership and why there aren't more women populating the highest leadership positions in public health.

Ending period poverty by 2030: From research to impact

Thursday 4 July

This meeting, held by the GCRF East and Southern Africa Menstrual Hygiene Research Network will bring together researchers, funders, policy makers and practitioners to discuss how we can use existing evidence to develop and deliver effective menstrual health policies and programmes globally and in the UK to end period poverty by 2030. 

Parts of the day will be recorded and a link posted here after the meeting. We’ll be tweeting highlights of the meeting throughout the day using the hashtag #MHMResearch2Impact from our Twitter account @MRCTEG_LSHTM.

Celebrating International Clinical Trials Day 2019 and the PopART Trial

The Clinical Trials Programme by Distance Learning, and the PopART Trial team, at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine has produced a resource to celebrate International Clinical Trials Day. You can learn about an important trial carried out in Sub-Saharan Africa which “tested the theory that HIV incidence could be dramatically reduced if everyone in a community knows their HIV status, and those positive are effectively treated”. 

Through the words of the trial team, and through their inspirational photographs from the field, you can engage with the need for the trial, the methods used in the research, and gain insights into the value and importance of a rigorously conducted trial in changing the evidence base for care.

• Access the resource

Field Trials of Health Interventions: a Toolbox - 3rd Edition

The third edition of Field Trials of Health Interventions: a Toolbox can now be accessed online.

Seminar: Impact of universal test-and-treat on HIV incidence in Zambia and South Africa: Results of the HPTN 071 (PopART) trial

PopART was a cluster-randomised trial carried out in 21 communities in Zambia and the Western Cape of South Africa, and the largest HIV prevention trial ever undertaken. Richard Hayes, who led the trial, will present the primary results of the trial, and discuss the implications of the findings in the context of other trials of universal test-and-treat.

Professor Richard Hayes has been working at the School since 1978, and for much of this period he has headed the MRC International Statistics and Epidemiology Group whose mission is to develop and apply statistical methods in tropical epidemiology and to carry out research on major public health problems of developing countries.

This session will be live-streamed/recorded - accessible only to internal audience.

Watch this session live

Speaker

Professor Richard Hayes (LSHTM)

Admission

Open to all, seats available on first come, first served basis.

Contact: Richard Hayes

Venue
LSHTM, Keppel Street
London
WC1E 7HT
United Kingdom

Get Directions

Room
John Snow A Lecture Theatre

Date
Thursday 9 May 2019

Time
12:30 - 13:30

Realizing the potential of HIV self‐testing for Africa: lessons learned from the STAR project

A special issue Open Access edition of the Journal of the International AIDS Society on HIV self-testing, including ISEG authored articles.

Field Trials of Health Interventions: A Toolbox – new 3^rd edition now available to download

An updated version of the Field Trials of Health Interventions: A Toolbox, edited by Peter G. Smith, Richard H. Morrow, and David A. Ross is now available for download. 

Abstract: Before new interventions are released into disease control programmes, it is essential that they are carefully evaluated in 'field trials'. These may be complex and expensive undertakings, requiring the follow-up of hundreds, or thousands, of individuals, often for long periods. Descriptions of the detailed procedures and methods used in the trials that have been conducted have rarely been published.

A consequence of this, individuals planning such trials have few guidelines available and little access to knowledge accumulated previously, other than their own. In this open-access online guide, practical issues in trial design and conduct are discussed fully and in sufficient detail. It has been compiled by an international group of over 30 authors with direct experience in the design, conduct, and analysis of field trials in low and middle income countries and is based on their accumulated knowledge and experience.

UK patient 'free' of HIV after stem cell treatment - BBC World Service

ISEG member Kalpana Sabapathy speaks on BBC World Service about the 'London patient', HIV remission and the HPTN 071 (PopART) trial. 

• Listen to the BBC World Service programme

2019 ISEG Fellowship

We are now accepting applications for the 2019 ISEG Fellowship. Please visit the Fellowship page for information about how to apply. Applications should be made via the online portal.

Closing date for applications: Friday 26 April

Short Course in Design & Analysis of Cluster Randomised and Stepped Wedge Trials

8 – 12 July 2019

Cluster randomised trials and stepped wedge trials are increasingly used to evaluate health and social interventions. These trial designs require specific methods of statistical analysis. This course will provide attendees with a clear understanding of the design and analysis of cluster randomised trials and stepped wedge trials.

This includes the rationale for using these designs, specific design issues, the randomisation process, sample size calculations, analytical methods, ethical considerations, and trial reporting and interpretation. We will include case studies from low-, middle- and high-income settings. Participants will gain practical experience of data analysis using the computer package Stata. 

• Read more about this course

Introductory Course in Epidemiology & Medical Statistics

24 June – 12 July 2019

Our Introductory Course in Epidemiology & Medical Statistics is now open for applications for 2019. The course covers the design and analysis of epidemiological studies, statistical methods in epidemiology, data analysis using Stata software and epidemiological principles of research. 

How a bench and a team of grandmothers can tackle depression - BBC Future

18 October 2018

"Zimbabwe is pioneering a groundbreaking mental health programme with stunning results – and the rest of the world is taking note..."

Dixon Chibanda is director of the African Mental Health Research Initiative and an associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Zimbabwe and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He is one of just 12 psychiatrists practising in Zimbabwe – a country of over 16 million. Together with ISEG director Helen Weiss and member Vicky Simms, co-authored a paper on tackling depression in Zimbabwe with grandmothers and benches.

• Read BBC Future's coverage

Sequential Trials Symposium

18 September 2018

The Centre for Statistical Methodology and the International Statistics and Epidemiology Group of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) held a half day symposium on sequential trials on 26 September 2018. Presentations highlighted recent research and application of these methods, and speakers included Sue Todd (University of Reading), Dominic Magirr (AstraZeneca), Babak Choodari-Oskooei (MRC Clinical Trials Unit at UCL), and Neal Alexander (LSHTM).

Sequential designs are intended to rapidly assess new interventions, particularly when the outcome is rare, and have arguably been under-used in medical research. For example, sequential trials were proposed as a way of ‘getting an answer sooner and cheaper’ for neglected tropical diseases. This meeting concentrated on ‘fully sequential’ trials but group sequential designs were also addressed. In the former, the data are analysed after each patient’s results become available, and the trial is stopped after a pre-specified objective is reached. Hence, the sample size is not fixed in advance. In the group-sequential approach, the sample size is determined conventionally, but the trial may be stopped at one of a small number of interim analyses.

This symposium took place at Birkbeck College in central London. This may be of interest to statisticians and others involved in the design or analysis of trials, whether or not they have previous experience of such.

• Watch the full recording