Professor Penelope Phillips-Howard

Biography

Penelope Phillips-Howard is a Professor in Public Health Epidemiology at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM). She began her career working as a nurse at Westminster Hospital London, completing a linked Bachelor of Science degree at South Bank University, before specialising in tropical diseases at the Hospital for Tropical Diseases. After this, she completed a PhD on the epidemiology of imported malaria in Britain at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, before working at the World Health Organisation’s (WHO’s) Malaria Control Programme. As a Technical Officer at WHO she helped strengthen guidance on antimalarial efficacy and safety and supported initiation of the development and use of the artemisinin derivatives to prevent and treat malaria. She then relocated to Kenya working with the Kenya Medical Research Institute and the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention in a large multidisciplinary team evaluating the impact of insecticide treated bednets on malaria morbidity and mortality. This helped inform global provision of free bednets to pregnant mothers and young children. Following a family career break, she pivoted her research interests toward adolescent health and joined LSTM in 2012 to conduct intervention studies on improving the health, schooling and wellbeing of adolescent girls and young women.

Research interests

Penelope leads a team at LSTM researching menstrual, and sexual and reproductive health of adolescent girls and young women, with a focus of collaborative studies in low-middle income countries including Kenya and India. She leads research on trials and studies investigating interventions for menstrual and sexual and reproductive health of adolescent girls and a cohort follow-up of girls’ health and social equity as they transition into adulthood in Kenya. Her team, together with Kenyan and international partners received the UK’s Medical Research Council Outstanding Team Impact Prize 2022 (Highly Commended). They recently examined the effect of COVID-19 school lockdowns on Kenyan girls’ sexual and reproductive health and schooling. They are co-investigators of bio-behavioural studies examining the benefits of menstrual cups on the vaginal microbiome, and protection against sexually transmitted infections and the potential benefits of menstrual cups for economically vulnerable women in Kenya. They examined menstrual needs of impoverished women in north-west England and with American partners have evaluated menstrual needs in schoolgirls and women during COVID-19. They are also co-investigators on an international consortium strengthening measurement of menstrual management and outcomes to support national programmes. Penelope collaborates with universities internationally, advising on various international committees to advance menstrual health globally, and support research through membership of Trial Steering Committees and Data Safety Monitoring Boards. She co-chaired LSTM’s Research Committee and is currently supporting LSTM’s preparations on impact case study submissions for the next Research and Excellence Framework.

Teaching

Penelope teaches twice a year on LSTM’s Diploma in Tropical Nursing and her team delivers LSTM’s Masters module on Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health. She has mentored the University of Liverpool’s BSc students’ summer projects, and her team supervises LSTM Masters dissertation projects each year. Penelope supports LSTM PhD students, as primary and secondary supervisor covering a range of topics including malaria, violence, childcare services, adolescent sexual and reproductive health and schooling, menstrual health programmes. She also acts as an external and independent examiner on other PhD student vivas.

Selected research publications

“Should I tell him I have something in my vagina?” Female sex workers’ perceptions and experiences of using a menstrual cup, and client reactions: A qualitative study in Western Kenya – Journal: Frontiers in Reproductive Health – Published: 2nd February 2026

Sub-optimal menstrual materials and vaginal microbiome disruption in women relying on sex for livelihood – Journal: Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology – Published: 12th January 2026

‘Because she doesn’t have a voice’. Perceptions of rejection amongst girls who have dropped out of school in rural western Kenya – Journal: International Journal of Adolescence and Youth – Published: 23rd October 2025

Evaluation of large language models within GenAI in qualitative research – Journal: Scientific Reports – Published: 7th October 2025

‘Better she gets infected by other diseases but not pregnancy’. Narratives from adolescent girls and community males following pregnancy escalation during COVID-19 lockdown – Journal: Frontiers in Reproductive Health – Published: 21st August 2025

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