Summary
I am in the third year of the 4-year Epidemiology, Evolution & Control of Infectious Diseases PhD programme. I work on modelling the impact of endectocides (mosquito-killing drugs) on malaria transmission in real-world settings, with a focus on the impact of these drugs in different entomological and ecological contexts. When a mosquito takes a bloodmeal from a person or animal treated with an endectocide, the mosquito ingests the drug and is killed. Several randomised control trials for evaluating the impact of ivermectin (an endectocide) on malaria transmission are underway. It is important to understand how the impact of the drug may vary across different settings, where mosquito feeding behaviours and the package of other control interventions will influence the relative impact of adding the endectocide to the vector control toolkit for malaria. My PhD is supervised by Prof Tom Churcher, Drs Ellie Sherrard-Smith, Joe Challenger and Hannah Slater (PATH).
Whilst I primarily work on malaria modelling, I have a strong interest in other vector-borne diseases and disease ecology. I have previously worked on using dengue virus genomic epidemiology to characterise the drivers of an outbreak in southeast Brazil (with Prof Nuno Faria and Dr Ilaria Dorigatti) and on using historical serological data and environmental data to estimate the force of infection of Yellow Fever Virus in Brazil, before the rollout of the Yellow Fever vaccine in 1937 (with Dr Katy Gaythorpe). As part of my PhD, I have also gained experience working as a field entomologist with the MATAMAL trial in the Bijagos archipelago, Guinea-Bissau.
Before starting the PhD programme, I worked as a Research Assistant for Prof Churcher on a project evaluating the impact of novel vector control interventions in different entomological contexts in Papua New Guinea (IVCC Indo-Pacific Initiative), which was funded by the Australian government.
I enjoy teaching, and have previously taught on a mathematical modelling workshop at MRC Gambia, which was attended by members of the Centre's Biostatistics Unit and regional participants from a range of disciplines within public health. I have also taught on MRC GIDA's mathematical modelling short course, and am a graduate teaching assistant on the School of Public Health masters module "Emerging and Neglected Tropical Diseases".
Selected Publications
Journal Articles
de Souza WM, de Lima STS, Simões Mello LM, et al., 2023, Spatiotemporal dynamics and recurrence of chikungunya virus in Brazil: an epidemiological study, The Lancet Microbe, Vol:4, ISSN:2666-5247, Pages:e319-e329
Pool R, Fernández M, Chandradeva N, et al., 2020, The taxonomic status of Skrjabinalius guevarai Gallego & Selva, 1979 (Nematoda: Pseudaliidae) and the synonymy of Skrjabinalius Delyamure, 1942 and Halocercus Baylis & Daubney, 1925, Systematic Parasitology, Vol:97, ISSN:0165-5752, Pages:389-401
Pool R, Chandradeva N, Gkafas G, et al., 2020, Transmission and Predictors of Burden of Lungworms of the Striped Dolphin (<i>Stenella coeruleoalba</i>) in the Western Mediterranean, Journal of Wildlife Diseases, Vol:56, ISSN:0090-3558, Pages:186-191