The Cochrane Infectious Diseases Group (CIDG), as part of the Effective Health Care Research Consortium, welcomes four new staff members to the CIDG editorial base: Sam Johnson (Research Associate, joined January 2017), Leslie Choi and Joseph Pryce (Research Assistants, joined in February 2017), and Cara Macfarlane (Research Assistant, joined March 2017).
Sam is a medical doctor working within the Department of Clinical Sciences. He grew up in Papua New Guinea before moving to Northwest England in 2000. He completed his initial medical training in Blackburn and Manchester before studying for the Diploma in Tropical Medicine & Hygiene (DTM&H) in Liverpool in 2016. He has spent time working in Uganda and briefly in Sierra Leone. He was most recently working at the Royal Liverpool Hospital and is looking forward to exploring the world of work outside of clinical medicine for a while. Sam is currently working with the CIDG on upcoming systematic reviews and will also be involved in teaching on the DTM&H.
Leslie completed his MSc (Hons) in Medical Entomology for Disease Control at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine following a BSc (Hons) in Biology at the University of Nottingham. For his MSc thesis, he worked at the PAMVERC site in Moshi, Tanzania, optimizing a novel assay for simulating indoor residual spray (IRS) in a laboratory environment. He then re-joined the group leading on an IRS experimental hut trial. Leslie is currently working with the CIDG producing novel and updating existing systematic reviews that assess the impacts of vector-control interventions on malaria transmission.
Joseph completed his undergraduate degree in Tropical Disease Biology at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM) in 2011. After several years employment in the NHS, working closely with healthcare professionals, Public Health, and patients to improve the quality of services, Joe returned to the LSTM in 2015 to complete a Masters degree in Biology and Control of Parasites and Disease Vectors. He has spent time working in Nepal, exploring options to improve access to care for lymphatic filariasis patients. Joe is currently working with the CIDG, producing novel and updating existing systematic reviews that assess the impacts of vector-control interventions on malaria transmission.
Cara obtained her BSc in Zoology at the University of Dundee in 2012, and her MRes in Crop and Insect Pest Biology from the University of Dundee and the James Hutton Institute in 2013. She first joined LSTM in 2013 after being awarded the LSTM PhD studentship, where she was based in the Department of Parasitology. Her research focused on the use of plasma for diagnosis of onchocerciasis infection, which involved proteomic biomarker discovery and evaluation of miRNA and DNA markers. During this time, she also assisted on the DTM&H practical diagnostic sessions in parasitology. She is also an author for the online BugBitten blog for the Parasites and Vectors community, and a member of STEM. She is currently working with the CIDG to develop and update Cochrane reviews in neglected tropical diseases.
(L-R) Joseph Pryce, Sam Johnson, Cara Macfarlane, and Leslie Choi
The CIDG editorial base is located at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine in Liverpool, UK. The CIDG is led by Professor Paul Garner (Co-ordinating Editor) and Anne-Marie Stephani (Managing Editor). Over 600 authors from some 52 countries contribute to the preparation of the Cochrane Reviews. They are supported by an international team of Editors, each with topic or methodological expertise. The CIDG’s main areas of work are on determination of the effects of interventions on the prevention or treatment infectious diseases of relevance to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, particularly malaria, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, and neglected tropical diseases. The aims of the CIDG are to impact on policy and research in tropical diseases through the production of high quality and relevant systematic reviews, and to lead developments in review quality improvement and effective dissemination of findings.