Helen Stagg, MA, MSc, PhD
Reader in Infectious Disease Epidemiology
Usher Institute, University of Edinburgh
Thursday 18th August 2022, 12.30–13.30 BST
Wolfson Room 8, LSTM, or virtually
helen.stagg@ed.ac.uk
Speaker: Dr. Stagg is the head of the Population Health and Infectious Diseases (PHID) research group at the University of Edinburgh’s Usher Institute. She is an applied epidemiological methodologist for the infectious diseases who initially trained at the University of Cambridge in the life sciences (cell biology, immunology, virology; PhD) and later at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (epidemiology, MSc). She has worked with industry, and national and international policy making/influencing bodies (particularly the Scottish Parliament, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence UK, European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, and the World Health Organization). She is a member of the World Health Organization's core grouping for the European Tuberculosis Research Initiative and was the co-chair of UK Academics and Professionals to End Tuberculosis with Professor Bertie Squire 2020-2022.
Topic: Concerns around non-adherence to anti-TB treatment have led to the costly commissioning of directly observed therapy around the globe, as well as extensive use of digital technologies to promote adherence. It is hoped that one of the key benefits of shorter treatment regimens will be to reduce non-adherence. At LIV-TB, Dr. Stagg will explore the key unanswered questions in this area of research, examine the role of multidisciplinary approaches to drive knowledge forwards, and ask why does non-adherence research have to be so complicated?