In this instalment of the CIDG 'Meet the Editor' series, we talk with Dr Ingrid Eshun-Wilson who is a HIV clinician and epidemiologist based at Stellenbosch University in South Africa.  Dr Eshun-Wilson has experience working with people living with HIV in low and middle income countries in both public health and clinical research settings.  She completed a Masters in Epidemiology in 2009 and has worked coordinating primary HIV research projects in East Africa and as a family medicine doctor subsequent to this.  She joined the CIDG team in 2016. 

Could you describe where you currently work and what you do there?

I work as an epidemiologist at the Centre for Evidence Based Health Care in the Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at Stellenbosch University in Cape town.  I work predominantly on conducting, appraising and setting priorities for HIV related systematic reviews in conjunction with Cochrane Infectious Diseases Group.

I also work with the Department of Medicine at the University of California San Francisco on primary epidemiological HIV research in Zambia as a research analyst

What is a typical day for you?

I alternate between my work with CIDG and UCSF.  This entails regular meetings with local and international colleagues, writing papers, supervising interns and research assistants, conducting statistical analyses and co-ordinating editorial and research teams.

What prompted you to work in this area?

I had the benefit of working for several years as an HIV clinician at Tygerberg Hospital in Cape Town.  I started this work when antiretroviral therapy first became available in South Africa which was an exciting time.  It quickly became clear that there were many unanswered questions in the field which lead me to pursue a research career in the field.

What are the major challenges that still remain in your field?

There is uncertainty as to what interventions can really make an impact on improving retention and adherence to ART.

How did you first hear about Cochrane?

While specializing in family medicine I conducted a Cochrane systematic review as my thesis.

What is the most rewarding aspect of being involved with Cochrane?

Seeing reviews being used in guideline development

Please list three words you would associate with Cochrane

Rigour, quality, evidence

What do you do in your spare time?

Family, swimming, cooking, socializing

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 Deirdre Walshe (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.