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JH Memorial Prize winners

2008 (inaugural) JH Memorial Prize - Melisa Martinez Alvarez
The inaugural John Henry Memorial Prize was awarded to Melisa Martinez Alvarez (pictured here at a focus group discussion with boys aged 12-17 years)for her outstanding performance on the course. Congratulations! She wrote in to tell us about what she has been doing:

"After graduating from my BSc in Biology with a year in Europe from Imperial College London, I decided to follow my interest in international development and public health by taking the MSc Control of Infectious Diseases at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. An important part of this course was to carry out an eight-week research project. I carried out my project with Christian Aid in the Northern Zambian region of the Copperbelt. My project was entitled: “An evaluation of the Community Based Care for Orphans and Vulnerable children (CBCO) Life Skills Programme in the Copperbelt, Zambia”. During my time in the Copperbelt I stayed with a local family in the rural area of Ntengwa. The aim of this was to build a close relationship with the community to facilitate data collection. I carried out two quantitative questionnaires (114 participants for each), eight focus group discussions and eight in-depth interviews. Despite encountering several problems with the data collection, it quickly became apparent that the Life Skills Programme was not achieving its full potential, and I made recommendations including the need for more regular and accurate sessions, but also relating to the need to address underlying issues, such as sexual abuse and power imbalances, in order for the sessions to have a better impact".

"I found the experience extremely rewarding. I made many good friends and I personally learnt a great deal from living with the community about their way of live, views and customs. I feel extremely privileged and humbled to have been awarded the John Henry Memorial Prize for this work and would like to thank the John Henry Memorial Fund as well as everyone who helped me carry out my project".

The project was conducted in conjunction with Christian Aid, who expressed a very high opinion of the relevance and quality of the work.


2009 JH Memorial Prize - Ruth Ashton

"After completing a BA in Natural Sciences at Cambridge University, I moved to London to take the MSc control of infectious diseases course at LSHTM. The course at LSHTM was a mix of public health and epidemiology, with one of the most important parts being the summer project. I travelled to Uganda to work with Malaria Consortium, an international NGO, on long-term project evaluating the impact of mosquito nets on malaria and lymphatic filariasis (LF). I was primarily based in Kampala, analysing data collected during baseline surveys to find if any association between risk of malaria or LF and mosquito net use existed in the initial stages of the study. I was also able to travel to the study site in Northern Uganda to take part in follow up surveys to investigate net retention and usage by rural households. Although my analysis revealed no clear protective impact of mosquito nets at baseline, the experience as a whole was invaluable. I was able to build close links with an organisation working in my area of interest of neglected tropical diseases, develop my technical skills, but also visit a developing country for the first time and take part in data collection in the field."

"Since completing my MSc, I've been based full time in Ethiopia, working with Malaria Consortium as a technical officer. My role has been to coordinate two operational research projects funded by USAID/PMI. One is an evaluation of multi-species rapid diagnostic tests for malaria, which will inform national policy when the switch is made from single- to multi-species RDTs. The second (and my favourite) is to develop a map of malaria and soil-transmitted helminth infection, and risk of infection across Oromia Region. To do this, we are currently running school-based surveys to test for malaria and helminth infection at 200 schools across the region. It has been a huge challenge, partly due to the size and poor infrastructure of the region - logistics and managing people become as vital as the technical aspects. Learning the art of project management has been trial and error, but to see a project from planning stages to implementation is really satisfying."

"I'm planning to move to the Malaria Consortium regional office in Kampala in the new year, to take on some Ugandan projects. These will again be focussed on combined control of malaria and neglected tropical diseases, and I'll continue to work with Jan Kolaczinski and Simon Brooker on these new projects."

"Thanks again for awarding me the prize. If you would like any photos - either of the MSc project in Uganda or my current work in Ethiopia - for the website then do let me know. "

2010 JH Memorial Prize - Sally Jackson (for work in the Gambia)

"I took the MSc Control of Infectious Diseases Course at LSHTM to gain the skills that I felt were essential for the work that I was conducting in the field in developing countries. Although I had a background in parasitology field research and health, it was while working in HIV/AIDS research and programme development for an NGO in India that I realised that I needed to learn specific research techniques that would enable me to work effectively in implementing evidence-based interventions in resource-limited settings. For this reason I applied to the LSHTM, and while there I focused on studying modules in epidemiology, particularly for the control of infectious diseases in developing countries."

"I carried out my research project in the distribution of trachoma in rural villages in The Gambia. Trachoma is the leading infectious cause of blindness worldwide and is caused by repeated infection with the bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis. I was looking at the distribution of the disease according to genetic and environmental risk factors. The purpose of the project was to investigate whether the scarring disease that leads to blindness occurs due to repeated environmental exposure to the bacteria or whether individuals have a genetic predisposition. I worked with a government Ophthalmic Nurse to conduct a census, screen participants, take clinical photographs, do questionnaires, take GPS readings, draw genetic pedigrees and trace genetic contacts in The Gambia and Senegal. The results proved extremely interesting and relevant for the control of trachoma, and as a result a PhD student based in The Gambia will now be continuing work in this area. To receive the John-Henry Memorial Prize is a great honour for me as I set out to learn skills to enable me to work more effectively in the field and I really hope that I have achieved that."

"Since graduating I have been working on a Cochrane review for malaria Rapid Diagnostic Tests at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. I am shortly going to Rwanda where I will be practically applying the skills and experience that I have gained while working in HIV. The trachoma research project has been crucial in amalgamating my skills and experience and I am extremely grateful to the John Henry Memorial Fund for presenting me with this prize."