Summary
Helen Ward trained in Medicine at Sheffield University, is Clinical Professor of Public Health at Imperial College London and an NIHR Senior Investigator. Her research is on the epidemiology and control of infectious diseases, including HIV, sexually transmitted infections and SARS-CoV-2. She leads on public and patient involvement in research at Imperial, and conducts collaborative research on translational medicine.
RESEARCH
- Co-lead for the Social, Genetic & Environmental Determinants of Health Theme of the NIHR Imperial Biomedical Research Centre
- Founding director of the NIHR Imperial BRC Patient Experience Research Centre
- Theme lead for Patient, Public, Community Engagement and Involvement in the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration North West London
- Co-PI for the REACT Study (Realtime Assessment of Community Transmission of SARS-CoV-2). Watch our vides on REACT-1, REACT-2, REACT-LC
- Co-PI on the Wellcome Trust Collaborative Award 'People Like You'; contemporary figures of personalisation from 2018-2022. Watch a video about the project and work of three artists in residence
TEACHING
- Co-Director, Global Master of Public Health (fully online degree)
- Science Matters: Let’s Talk about Covid19, free online course link including module on community engagement in pandemic response
PhD STUDENTS
Vas Papageorgiou (LISS DTP): HIV, COVID-19 and health and well-being: a mixed-methods exploration of the impact of structural and social determinants (awarded 2023)
Flavien Coukan (ARC DTP): Understanding the barriers to and facilitators of access to HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis among key populations in England
Matthew Whitaker (Research Assistant/ PhD student):Advanced statistical modelling of the COVID-19 epidemic
Richard Ma (NIHR Doctoral Research Fellow) Improving the effectiveness and equity of contraception provision in general practice (submitted 2023)
Theo Georgiou Delisle (Clinical Research Fellow): Implementation of the faecal immunochemical test in the diagnostic pathway for colorectal cancer: a mixed method study
Fernando Guntoro Large-scale multi-omics analysis of SARS-CoV-2 infection
Selected Publications
Journal Articles
Atchison C, Whitaker M, Donnelly C, et al. , 2023, Characteristics and predictors of persistent symptoms post COVID-19 in children and young people: a large community cross-sectional study in England, Archives of Disease in Childhood, ISSN:0003-9888
Day S, Gleason K, Lury C, et al. , 2023, 'In the picture': perspectives on living and working with cancer, Medical Humanities, Vol:49, ISSN:1468-215X, Pages:83-92
Atchison C, Moshe M, Brown J, et al. , 2023, Validity of self-testing at home with rapid SARS-CoV-2 antibody detection by lateral flow immunoassay, Clinical Infectious Diseases, Vol:76, ISSN:1058-4838, Pages:658-666
Eales O, Page AJ, Tang SN, et al. , 2023, The use of representative community samples to assess SARS-CoV-2 lineage competition: Alpha outcompetes Beta and wild-type in England from January to March 2021., Microbial Genomics, Vol:9, ISSN:2057-5858, Pages:1-14
Day S, Lury C, Ward H, 2023, Personalization: a new political arithmetic?, Distinktion-journal of Social Theory, ISSN:1600-910X
Whitaker M, Elliott J, Bodinier B, et al. , 2022, Variant-specific symptoms of COVID-19 in a study of 1,542,510 adults in England, Nature Communications, Vol:13, ISSN:2041-1723, Pages:1-10
Chadeau-Hyam M, Tang D, Eales O, et al. , 2022, Omicron SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in England during February 2022: A series of cross-sectional community surveys, The Lancet Regional Health Europe, Vol:21, ISSN:2666-7762, Pages:1-11
Elliott P, Eales O, Bodinier B, et al. , 2022, Dynamics of a national Omicron SARS-CoV-2 epidemic during January 2022 in England, Nature Communications, Vol:13, ISSN:2041-1723
Whitaker M, Elliott J, Chadeau M, et al. , 2022, Persistent COVID-19 symptoms in a community study of 606,434 people in England, Nature Communications, Vol:13, ISSN:2041-1723
Elliott P, Eales O, Steyn N, et al. , 2022, Twin peaks: the Omicron SARS-CoV-2 BA.1 and BA.2 epidemics in England
Chadeau-Hyam M, Wang H, Eales O, et al. , 2022, SARS-CoV-2 infection and vaccine effectiveness in England (REACT-1): a series of cross-sectional random community surveys, The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, Vol:10, ISSN:2213-2600, Pages:355-366
Ward H, Whittaker M, Flower B, et al. , 2022, Population antibody responses following COVID-19 vaccination in 212,102 individuals, Nature Communications, Vol:13, ISSN:2041-1723
Ward H, Flower B, Garcia PJ, et al. , 2021, Global surveillance, research, and collaboration needed to improve understanding and management of long COVID, The Lancet, Vol:398, ISSN:0140-6736, Pages:2057-2059
Elliott P, Haw D, Wang H, et al. , 2021, Exponential growth, high prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 and vaccine effectiveness associated with Delta variant, Science, Vol:374, ISSN:0036-8075, Pages:1-11
Udeh-Momoh C, Watermeyer T, Sindi S, et al. , 2021, Health, lifestyle and psycho-social determinants of poor sleep quality during the Early Phase of the COVID-19 pandemic: a focus on UK older adults deemed clinically extremely vulnerable, Frontiers in Public Health, Vol:9, ISSN:2296-2565, Pages:1-11
Riley S, Ainslie KEC, Eales O, et al. , 2021, Resurgence of SARS-CoV-2: detection by community viral surveillance, Science, Vol:372, ISSN:0036-8075, Pages:990-995
Ward H, Cooke GS, Atchison C, et al. , 2021, Prevalence of antibody positivity to SARS-CoV-2 following the first peak of infection in England: Serial cross-sectional studies of 365,000 adults, The Lancet Regional Health - Europe, Vol:4, ISSN:2666-7762, Pages:1-7
Ward H, Atchison C, Whitaker M, et al. , 2021, SARS-CoV-2 antibody prevalence in England following the first peak of the pandemic., Nature Communications, Vol:12, ISSN:2041-1723, Pages:1-8
Atchison C, Pristerà P, Cooper E, et al. , 2020, Usability and acceptability of home-based self-testing for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) antibodies for population surveillance, Clinical Infectious Diseases, Vol:2020, ISSN:1058-4838, Pages:1-10
Flower B, Brown JC, Simmons B, et al. , 2020, Clinical and laboratory evaluation of SARS-CoV-2 lateral flow assays for use in a national COVID-19 sero-prevalence survey, Thorax, Vol:75, ISSN:0040-6376, Pages:1082-1088
Ward H, Garnett GP, Mayer KH, et al. , 2019, Maximizing the impact of HIV prevention technologies in sub‐Saharan Africa, Journal of the International AIDS Society, Vol:22, ISSN:1758-2652
Rai T, Bruton P, Day S, et al. , 2018, From activism to secrecy: contemporary experiences of living with HIV in London in people diagnosed from 1986 to 2014, Health Expectations, Vol:21, ISSN:1369-6513, Pages:1134-1141
Pufall EL, Kall M, Shahmanesh M, et al. , 2018, Sexualized drug use ('chemsex') and high-risk sexual behaviours in HIV-positive men who have sex with men, HIV Medicine, Vol:19, ISSN:1464-2662, Pages:261-270
Davies B, Turner KME, Frolund M, et al. , 2018, Pelvic inflammatory disease risk following negative results from chlamydia nucleic acid amplification tests (NAATs) versus non-NAATs in Denmark: A retrospective cohort study, PLOS Medicine, Vol:15, ISSN:1549-1277
McGrath-Lone L, Ward H, Schoenborn C, et al. , 2015, The effects of cancer research participation on patient experience: a mixed-methods analysis., European Journal of Cancer Care, Vol:25, ISSN:1365-2354, Pages:1056-1064
Rönn M, White PJ, Hughes G, et al. , 2014, Developing a Conceptual Framework of Seroadaptive Behaviors in HIV-Diagnosed Men Who Have Sex With Men, Journal of Infectious Diseases, Vol:210, ISSN:1537-6613, Pages:S586-S593
Kim S-H, Gerver SM, Fidler S, et al. , 2014, Adherence to antiretroviral therapy in adolescents living with HIV: systematic review and meta-analysis, AIDS, Vol:28, ISSN:0269-9370, Pages:1945-1956
Elmahdi R, Gerver SM, Guillen GG, et al. , 2014, Low levels of HIV test coverage in clinical settings in the UK: a systematic review of adherence to 2008 guidelines, Sexually Transmitted Infections, Vol:90, ISSN:1368-4973, Pages:119-124
Ward H, 2007, Prevention strategies for sexually transmitted infections: importance of sexual network structure and epidemic phase, Sexually Transmitted Infections, Vol:83, ISSN:1368-4973, Pages:I43-I49
Ward H, Ison CA, Day SE, et al. , 2000, A prospective social and molecular investigation of gonococcal transmission, The Lancet, Vol:356, ISSN:0140-6736, Pages:1812-1817