Professor J. Russell Stothard

Professor of Medical Parasitology

In 2011, I moved to LSTM as Professor of Medical Parasitology and have expanded my interdisciplinary research with support from DFID_UK (COUNTDOWN) and Wellcome Trust (HUGS) programmes.

Here, I have developed specific interest in the interplay of schistosomiasis with other African diseases such as malaria and HIV as well as disability and stigma developing links with menstrual hygiene management, alongside female genital schistosomiasis . Most recently, I am exploring the changing epidemiology of (zoonotic) schistosomiasis being brought about by novel hybrids.

Today, I am adopting One Health approaches to investigate aquatic ecosystem health and sustainable management within its broadest sense. A recent geographical focus has been on Lake Malawi with Drs Janelisa Musaya and Seke Kayuni.

My previous history I graduated in Zoology and Microbiology (Joint Honours) from Leeds University in 1991 being fascinated by parasite epidemiology.

In 1992, I undertook a MSc in Biological Computation at York University with a research placement at the Sea Mammal Research Unit in Cambridge developing population genetic models for phocine distemper virus with Prof John Harwood.

Maintaining my interests in biodiversity I completed a SERC PhD studentship in 1995 under the supervision of Dr David Rollinson at the Natural History Museum (NHM) developing DNA assays for identification of Bulinus, intermediate snail hosts for urogenital schistosomiasis.We have continued to collaborate, and with several NHM colleagues, to this day.

Between 1995-1997 as a PDRA, I worked with Prof Michael Miles and Dr Iain Frame at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine determining the capacity for sexual reproduction in Trypanosoma cruzi. Being awarded a Wellcome Trust Fellowship in Biodiversity (1997-2002), I returned to the NHM to study the transmission of urogenital schistosomiasis within the Indian Ocean area. There, I undertook extensive field investigations in Madagascar with French colleagues Drs Bertrand Sellin and Philippe Bremond, as well as, on Zanzibar and Mafia with Mr Ali Foum Mgeni.

In 2003, I joined the nascent Schistosomiasis Control Initiative then headed by Dr Alan Fenwick as field programme coordinator, developing monitoring and evaluation surveillance tools and protocols with Dr Joanne Webster. Whilst there, I established longstanding research collaborations, in particular with Drs Narcis Kabatereine and Edridah Muheki. Securing a Research Leader post, I returned the NHM in 2005 and continued multidisciplinary research in Africa heading the cross-country EU-CONTRAST and Ugandan Wellcome Trust SIMI projects.

Research

As a medical parasitologist with focus on neglected tropical diseases, my current expertise is in epidemiology and control of schistosomiasis (300 publications on WOK, >9000 citations, h-index 50, average citation per item 30.4), undertaking multidisciplinary studies from molecular diagnostics to applied social science.

My research has often translated into several WHO policy changes. I have presented, co-chaired and chaired several WHO expert committees of WHO Head Office/African Regional Office and assisted in WHO Guideline Review: Schistosomiasis.

I have directly contributed in drafting WHO documents, with the following being the current roadmap for control of schistosomiasis:

I have assisted WHO with on-the-ground investigations for autochthonous transmission of schistosomiasis in Western and South East Asia and helped to develop national scaled maps for various African countries.

I was Director of the DFID_UK CouNTDown (2014-2019) and continue to assist the implementation research consortium in schistosomiasis- and soil-transmitted helminthiasis-related research outputs.

Teaching

In 2020, I was granted a Senior Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy in recognition of undergraduate and postgraduate teaching experience.

At MSc level, I co-convene TROP 939 & TROP 719 with Dr James LaCourse on Biology of Parasites & Vectors and Parasite Epidemiology & Control, respectively. I contribute towards teaching in several other MSc & BSc modules, a highlight being at the start of each year the short residential field course. Whilst there, with Dr Michelle Stanton, we promote experiential outdoor learning, introducing students to medical malacology and novel spatial sampling frameworks using various GPS recording devices.

Between 2014-2019, I was Programme Directorship for the BSc in Tropical Disease Biology, which interfaces with the University of Liverpool, overseeing 7 taught modules in 2nd and 3rd years, inclusive of research project allocations.

Throughout the year I contribute to DTM&H, DTN and other short courses in the LSTM and also at The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM).

Over the years I have supervised the MSc and BSc research projects of over seventy students from University of Liverpool, Imperial College London, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, University College London, University of Cardiff and Royal Veterinary College, London.

I currently supervise 3 PhD students on NTD-related topics.

I have also acted as external examiner for research projects in Global Health at St George’s University and undertaken external curriculum review of the LSHTM MSc Control of Infectious Diseases.

Further relevant expertise

I serve as editor-in-chief of the peer-review journal Parasitology and am co-editor of the serial volume Advances in Parasitology.

I serve on the editorial boards of Acta Tropica, Infectious Diseases of Poverty and Journal of Helminthology.

In 2019 I was awarded the C A Wright Medal by the British Society for Parasitology for multidisciplinary research on schistosomiasis and highlighting the importance of female and male genital schistosomiasis in Africa.

In 2002 I was awarded the Bicentenary Medal of the Linnean Society of London for epidemiology studies of urogenital schistosomiasis on Zanzibar and molecular taxonomic investigations of intermediate snail hosts.

In years past, I have played major roles in learned societies: on the Executive and Council of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (Hon. Scientific Secretary 2003-2010), Systematics Association & Malacological Society of London, having helped each society organize several scientific meetings as well as their AGMs. A particular highlight was organizing the Centenary Meeting of the RSTMH in central London in 2007 as well as their annual 'Research in Progress' and 'Fresh From The Field' meetings with the Royal Geographical Society.

From 2011-2016, I served as Honorary General Secretary for the British Society for Parasitology and have remained an active member of the Society since 1992, organizing 3 Autumn Symposia: Progress in paediatric parasitology, Advances in diagnostics for parasitic diseases and Host-parasite genetic diversity and co-evolution.

In 2015, with Prof Mark Taylor and Dr Emily Adams, I organized the 2015 Spring Meeting in Liverpool with research focus on malaria, NTDs and associated vectors.

ISNTD Connect: 

Schistosomiasis in Malawi: achievements, emerging challenges and lessons for the future of control

Through four presentations and discussions, this ISNTD Connect webinar charts the lessons from Malawi for the future of Schistosomiasis control & OneHealth. 
​Recorded on Wednesday April 7th 2021.

 

 

 

 

The Ugandan Schistosoma mansoni Research Centre (U-SMRC)

In 2021, the Ugandan Schistosoma mansoni Research Centre (U-SMRC) was a newly funded NIH, USA initiative to develop local research capacity on intestinal schistosomiasis in Uganda. The U-SMRC is primarily based in Entebbe and has 3 specific research aims. Collectively, these are to better understand the epidemiology, morbidity and transmission of schistosomiasis within and between the Great East African Lakes of Albert and Victoria. Here, despite years of national control, the disease is firmly engrained. The Prof. Stothard will play a supporting role in developing and guiding the PhD studies of Mr David Oguttu, Vector Control Division, Ministry of Health on medical malacology. The latter will include introduction of molecular DNA methods to detect schistosome infections within Biomphalaria as well as in lake water and sediments. For more information about the U-SMRC see https://tmrc-network.org/research-centers/uganda.
About Mr David Oguttu. David is a longstanding vector control officer based in Kampala. Since 2002, he has provided technical support to the several agencies inclusive of the Schistosomiasis Control Initiative, Carter Centre, USAID and UKAID in disease surveillance of schistosomiasis and onchocerciasis. David is currently registered for his PhD at Mbarara University (https://www.must.ac.ug/) with co-supervisors Drs Casim Umba Tolo, Tine Huyse and Narcis Kabatereine.

Recent publications: 

    Selected publications

    • Stroehlein AJ, Korhonen PK, Lee VV, Ralph SA, Mentink-Kane M, You H, McManus DP, Tchuenté LT, Stothard JR, Kaur P, Dudchenko O, Aiden EL, Yang B, Yang H, Emery AM, Webster BL, Brindley PJ, Rollinson D, Chang BCH, Gasser RB, Young ND. Chromosome-level genome of Schistosoma haematobium underpins genome-wide explorations of molecular variation. PLoS Pathogens. 2022 Feb 15;18(2):e1010288. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1010288. PMID: 35167626; PMCID: PMC8846543.

      Al-Shehri, H., Power, B. J., Archer, J., Cousins, A., Atuhaire, A., Adriko, M., Arinaitwe, M., Alanazi, A. D., LaCourse, E. J., Kabatereine, N. B. and Stothard, J. R. (2019). Non-invasive surveillance of Plasmodium infection by real-time PCR analysis of ethanol preserved faeces from Ugandan school children with intestinal schistosomiasis. Malaria Journal, 18. doi: 10.1186/s12936-019-2748-4.

      Betson, M., Clifford, S., Stanton, M., Kabatereine, N. B. and Stothard, J. R. (2018). Emergence of Nonfalciparum Plasmodium infection despite regular artemisinin combination therapy in an 18-month longitudinal study of Ugandan cand their mothers. Journal of Infectious Diseases, 217, 1099-1109. doi: 10.1093/infdis/jix686.

      Bustinduy, A., King, C., Scott, J., Appleton, S., Sousa-Figueiredo, J. C., Betson, M. and Stothard, J. R. (2014). HIV and schistosomiasis co-infection in African children. Lancet Infectious Diseases, 14, 640-649. doi: 10.1016/s1473-3099(14)70001-5.

      Fenwick, A., Webster, J. P., Bosque-Oliva, E., Blair, L., Fleming, F. M., Zhang, Y., Garba, A., Stothard, J. R., Gabrielli, A. F., Clements, A. C. A., Kabatereine, N. B., Toure, S., Dembele, R., Nyandindi, U., Mwansa, J. and Koukounari, A. (2009). The Schistosomiasis Control Initiative (SCI): rationale, development and implementation from 2002-2008. Parasitology, 136, 1719-1730. doi: 10.1017/s0031182009990400.

      Gaunt, M. W., Yeo, M., Frame, I. A., Stothard, J. R., Carrasco, H. J., Taylor, M. C., Mena, S. S., Veazey, P., Miles, G. A. J., Acosta, N., de Arias, A. R. and Miles, M. A. (2003). Mechanism of genetic exchange in American trypanosomes. Nature, 421, 936-939. doi: 10.1038/nature01438.

      Kayuni, S., Lampiao, F., Makaula, P., Juziwelo, L., Lacourse, E. J., Reinhard-Rupp, J., Leutscher, P. D. C. and Stothard, J. R. (2019). A systematic review with epidemiological update of male genital schistosomiasis (MGS): A call for integrated case management across the health system in sub-Saharan Africa. Parasite Epidemiol Control, 4, e00077. doi:10.1016/j.parepi.2018.e00077.

      Olsen, A., van Lieshout, L., Marti, H., Polderman, T., Polman, K., Steinmann, P., Stothard, R., Thybo, S., Verweij, J. J. and Magnussen, P. (2009). Strongyloidiasis - the most neglected of the neglected tropical diseases? Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 103, 967-972. doi: 10.1016/j.trstmh.2009.02.013.

      Rollinson, D., Knopp, S., Levitz, S., Stothard, J. R., Tchuente, L. A. T., Garba, A., Mohammed, K. A., Schur, N., Person, B., Colley, D. G. and Utzinger, J. (2013). Time to set the agenda for schistosomiasis elimination. Acta Tropica, 128, 423-440. doi: 10.1016/j.actatropica.2012.04.013.

      Stothard, J. R., Odiere, M. R. and Phillips-Howard, P. A. (2020). Connecting female genital schistosomiasis and menstrual hygiene initiatives. Trends in Parasitology, 36, 410-412. doi: 10.1016/j.pt.2020.02.007.

      Stothard, J. R., Sousa-Figueiredo, J. C., Betson, M., Bustinduy, A. and Reinhard-Rupp, J. (2013). Schistosomiasis in African infants and preschool children: let them now be treated! Trends in Parasitology, 29, 197-205. doi: 10.1016/j.pt.2013.02.001.