Outside the biomedical box of integrated care research. Meet some of our new RESPOND-AFRICA staff
The RESPOND-AFRICA consortium is made up of a range of diverse professionals from Europe and Africa. They are working on several different projects all aimed at improving health outcomes for people living with chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, and HIV in Africa. They are experts in unique activities that range from infectious disease care, non-communicable diseases care, project management, implementation, social science, or health economics. Have you ever wondered what it takes to be involved in a large global health program including multi-country randomised control trials? We have interviewed some of our new RESPOND-AFRICA members who are both on the ground and behind the scenes to give you an idea. Follow along in our series documenting some of our RESPOND-AFRICA consortium members!
Interviewee name: Caroline Jeffery
Role in RESPOND-AFRICA: Research Associate
Projects involved within RESPOND-AFRICA: INTE-AFRICA and METAII
Where they are based: Liverpool, UK
Past role/job: Research Associate in Biostatistics, LSTM
Who are you?
I am a biostatistician and have worked in international public health for 12 years at LSTM. In my previous post, I supported statistical analyses for the monitoring and evaluation of health programmes in LMIC, primarily child and mothers’ health, and engaged in some teaching activities for masters’ students. I grew up in France until I moved to Boston, MA, USA for an undergraduate exchange programme and further studies.
I support the statistics and health economics data analysis activities of RESPOND-AFRICA
How has your journey helped you lead to this point in your career?
My original training focused on mathematics, statistics, programming, and business studies. I began transitioning to health applications after my masters. While pursuing my PhD training, I briefly travelled to Kinshasa, DRC, to support a World Bank-funded data audit of a cluster health survey. This opportunity triggered my interest in further work in international public health, which I have done since at LSTM.
How did you initially get involved in research?
After my masters, I joined the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Biostatistics department as a research assistant in public health surveillance. My research focused on spatial methods and included applications in syndromic surveillance using data from Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
The applied projects I was engaged in previously sat in the context of improving routine health information systems in LMIC.
How has the field of integrated care, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, been changing?
The field of integrated care is new to me. I am learning about this field through working on the RESPOND-AFRICA projects. The applied projects I was engaged in previously sat in the context of improving routine health information systems in LMIC.
What do you hope to do in your role and as a member of the RESPOND-AFRICA consortium?
I support the statistics and health economics data analysis activities of RESPOND-AFRICA.
Besides research and randomised control trials, what do you enjoy doing?
I enjoy meeting friends and spending time outdoors. I sing in a choir and do pottery.
