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Professor Rashida Ferrand

Clinical Professor - HCC

United Kingdom

Tel.
+44 (0)207 927 2577
I obtained my primary medical degree from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne and completed my postgraduate training in internal medicine and clinical specialist training in HIV Medicine and Sexual Health in London. I undertook a Distance-Based Learning Masters in Epidemiology at LSHTM while working as a clinical lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe Medical School. Following completion of clinical specialist and doctoral research training, I have worked at LSHTM- my research based mainly in Southern Africa and Pakistan.

I am an epidemiologist and my research interests include adolescent health, HIV and sexual and reproductive health (SRH), and multimorbidity. I develop and evaluate public health interventions including individual and cluster randomised trials.

I have been based in Harare, Zimbabwe for 20 years, where I established and direct an interdisciplinary research programme (The Health Research Unit Zimbabwe (THRU ZIM:https://www.thruzim.org/)), embedded within the Biomedical Research and Training Institute (BRTI)- my host institution.

Affiliations

Department of Clinical Research
Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases

Centres

Centre for Maternal Adolescent Reproductive & Child Health

Teaching

I enjoy teaching and contribute to various MSc modules at LSHTM including HIV and Epidemiology in Practice. I also teach on the Diploma of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (DTM&H) and am the Lead for the DTM&H course section on Decolonising Global Health. I supervise several MSc projects every year and particularly welcome hosting MSc students who want to embed their projects within ongoing research studies at THRU ZIM and want to visit Zimbabwe. I currently supervise 3 PhD students and 1 DrPH student as a primary supervisor and am an associate supervisor/advisor for a further 6 students. We host interns, undergraduate, post-graduate and post-doctoral students from Zimbabwean and international academic institutions at THRU ZIM.

I am the Director of a PhD programme for Health Professionals called CREATE (https://www.create-phd.org/), which is training 50 doctoral students from the UK and from Africa in global health.

I contribute to undergraduate and postgraduate teaching in public health and clinical medicine at the University of Zimbabwe, and teach on research methods courses at the Biomedical Research and Training Institute in Harare. I also mentor colleagues at the Aga Khan University in Pakistan, where I hold a visiting professorship.

Research

My PhD, funded through a Wellcome Trust clinical tropical training fellowship, investigated the clinical epidemiology of adolescents with perinatally-acquired HIV. This was followed by two further Wellcome Trust Fellowships through which I investigated interventions to improve outcomes across the HIV care cascade (from HIV testing to linkage to care and achieving viral suppression) among children and young people, and on integration of HIV and sexual and reproductive and other health services. I currently lead a study that aims to develop and evaluate a multi-faceted biomedical pychosocial, nutritional care package for pregnant adolescents. I am also working on approaches to promote a shift away from syndromic to aetiological approaches for management of sexually transmittted infections (STIs) including STI screening in HIV and antenatal care services and in community-based settings.

My other area of research is multimorbidity across the life-course. I conduct clinical and pathogenesis studies on chronic comorbidities associated with HIV infection among children and adolescents, particularly respiratory, cardiac, musculoskeletal and neurocognitive disease. I lead an EDCTP-funded consortium (VITALITY: https://www.vitality-trial.co.uk) that is investigating high-dose vitamin D and calcium supplementation for improving musculoskeletal health of children with HIV.

I work on evaluation of multimorbidity prevention, screening and care packages for different population groups; I am the Zimbabwe lead for the FRACTURES E3 consortium (https://www.fractures-e3.com/) that is investigating the epidemiology, economic impact and ethnography of fragility fractures in Sub-Saharan Africa. I am a co-investigator on studies i) developing and evaluating "check-up" visits in adolescence to identify and manage common health problems combined with health promotion; and ii) a study developing and evaluating an intervention package to promote healthy ageing.
Research Area
Adolescent health
Clinical trials
Complex interventions
Global Health
Health outcomes
Mobile technologies
Public health
Sexual health
T-cell immunology
Epidemiology
Medicine
Operational research
Implementation science
Randomised controlled trials
Disease and Health Conditions
HIV/AIDS
Sepsis
Tuberculosis
Cardiovascular diseases
Respiratory diseases
Sexually transmitted infections
Country
Malawi
Pakistan
Zambia
Zimbabwe
Region
South Asia
Sub-Saharan Africa (all income levels)

Selected Publications

Understanding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on households’ livelihoods in Zimbabwe: A qualitative study using the sustainable urban livelihood framework.
TARUVINGA, T; Chingono, RS; Tembo, M; Tshuma, M; Masiye, K; Madanhire, C; Munhenzva, S; Sibanda, S; Mafuva, L; Chimberengwa, PT; Webb, K; Chinyanga, TT; Sibanda, E; Chonzi, P; FERRAND, RA; McCoy, D; Kranzer, K; Dixon, J;
2025
Wellcome Open Research
Effect of long-term azithromycin treatment on gut microbial diversity in children and adolescents with HIV-associated chronic lung disease
Flygel, TT; Bargheet, A; Abotsi, RE; Claassen-Weitz, S; SIMMS, V; Hjerde, E; Mwaikono, KS; Mchugh, G; Hameiri-Bowen, D; Pettersen, VK; FERRAND, RA; Nicol, M; Cavanagh, JP; Flaegstad, T; Sovershaeva, E;
2025
EBioMedicine
The UK must not fail Gaza—a call for government action
Hassan, S; ALLEMANI, C; CLARKE, S; COLEMAN, M; Cook, J; DI CARLO, V; Fielding, K; FERRAND, R; GAFOS, M; KHAN, P; KLEINSCHMIDT, I; KNAI, C; SINGH, NS; WEISS, H; Campbell, O; CHECCHI, F;
2025
BMJ
Incidence of and outcomes of pregnancy in adolescents with perinatally-acquired HIV infection in Southern Africa
DZAVAKWA, NV; Chisenga, M; Banda-Mabuda, H; Namukonda, C; Kasonka, L; Bandason, T; Redzo, N; Mujuru, HA; KRANZER, K; SIMMS, V; FERRAND, RA;
2025
International journal of STD & AIDS
Integrated community-based HIV and sexual and reproductive health services for youth: a cluster-randomized trial
FERRAND, RA; Dauya, E; Chikwari, CD; Bandason, T; Bernays, S; MACKWORTH-YOUNG, C; DOYLE, AM; GRUNDY, C; INDRAVUDH, P; Terris-Presholt, F; Mavodza, CV; Mugurungi, O; Apollo, T; Ncube, G; LARSSON, L; McCarthy, O; SIMMS, V; Tembo, M; KRANZER, K; HAYES, RJ;
2025
Nature medicine
Electronic monitoring device adherence intervention improves viral suppression in young people living with HIV at risk of virological failure
Dzavakwa, N; MACKWORTH-YOUNG, C; Bandason, T; Redzo, N; Paradza, M; Chidembo, M; Kembo, D; Munemo, D; Makamba, M; FERRAND, R; KHAN, P; SIMMS, V;
2025
International AIDS Society
Understanding experiences and views of the menopause in Zimbabwe and South Africa: a qualitative study
Drew, S; Buwu, N; Gregson, CL; Micklesfield, LK; FERRAND, RA; Gooberman-Hill, R;
2025
Climacteric
Use of biometrics to evaluate intervention coverage and contamination in a cluster randomised trial in Zimbabwe
SIMMS, V; Bandason, T; Dauya, E; Chikwari, CD; GRUNDY, C; Tembo, M; Mavodza, C; Mugurungi, O; Apollo, T; Ashrafee, R; Demetriou, D; Sharma, A; HAYES, RJ; KRANZER, K; FERRAND, RA;
2025
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Awareness, access to and uptake of HIV prevention interventions among youth in Zimbabwe: a population-based survey
Kelly, SH; Azizi, S; Chikwari, CD; Tembo, M; Bandason, T; Dauya, E; Mavodza, CV; Apollo, T; Mugurungi, O; FERRAND, RA; SIMMS, V;
2025
BMC infectious diseases
The influence of HIV on body composition and its relationship with physical function in mid-life women: a cross-sectional study from Zimbabwe
Ó Breasail, M; Mesinovic, J; MADANHIRE, T; Kahari, C; Ebeling, PR; SIMMS, V; FERRAND, RA; Ward, KA; Gregson, CL;
2025
Climacteric : the journal of the International Menopause Society
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