Dr James Chirombo

Biography

James Chirombo obtained his PhD in spatial statistics from Lancaster University in 2018. He then joined the Malawi Liverpool Wellcome Programme as a biostatistician in the Statistical Support Unit where his primary role was providing statistical support and advice to researchers. In 2024 James joined Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM) as a lecturer in biostatistics in the Clinical Sciences department.

Most of his work has been in vector-borne diseases with a focus on malaria. Currently, James’ interest is in understanding the shift in malaria burden towards school-age children. To this end, James is a trial statistician for a study in Malawi which aims to assess two drugs as potential prophylaxis to control malaria in this population. He is also a co-investigator on a Wellcome-funded project on climate impacts attribution and a Wellcome Discovery Award project about advancing methods of surveillance of mycobacterium tuberculosis infection.

Research interests

James’ research interest lies in building spatio-temporal statistical models to characterise the impact of environmental and climate change on climate-sensitive diseases. James is also interested in understanding the role of human movement, both short- and long-term on the spread of infectious diseases.

Selected research publications

Exploring the importance and preference of sugar feeding behaviour of malaria vectors in sugar plantations of southern Malawi – Journal: PLoS ONE – Published: 6th March 2026

Repeated biannual cross-sectional surveys in primary schools set baseline seasonal and spatial surveillance for malaria and schistosomiasis in the Shire Valley Transformation Programme (SVTP), Malawi – Journal: Current Research in Parasitology and Vector-Borne Diseases – Published: 9th January 2026

An exploratory study using respondent-driven sampling to map HIV risk across sex work locations in Blantyre, Malawi – Journal: Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes – Published: 1st December 2025

Predicting current habitat suitability for intermediate snail hosts of urogenital and intestinal schistosomiasis in the Lower Shire Valley floodplain of southern Malawi – Journal: Parasites & Vectors – Published: 29th August 2025

Updated fine-scale location data for Blantyre district collected using a low-cost approach – Journal: Scientific data – Published: 22nd July 2025

View more publications