Contact details
Dr Lucy Okell
MRC Fellow
School of Public Health
Medical School
St Mary's Campus
Tel: +44 (0)20 7594 3265
Email:
Dr Lucy Okell
I am a research fellow in the Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology working on using mathematical models of malaria to understand the potential impact of public health interventions.
My work has focussed on the impact of antimalarial treatment on the transmissibility of malaria infections, and the implications of selecting different treatments for use at a community level. I completed my PhD in 2008 at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, where I used transmission models to estimate the potential impact of artemisinin combination therapies on community-wide transmission. I am currently continuing research investigating the potential contribution of antimalarials towards overall malaria control, both when used for symptomatic case management, and in mass treatment programmes which target asymptomatic infections. The effect of a given malaria control intervention can often vary between different epidemiological settings, and I have applied models to specific endemic settings in Africa in collaboration with field-based staff in order to understand where and under what conditions different strategies can be most appropriate.
Other ongoing work involves investigating the contribution of low density malaria infections to the parasite infectious reservoir, the analysis of serology data as a means of estimating malaria transmission intensity and the potential implications of different delivery strategies for the impact of insecticide-treated bednets on child mortality.
Selected Publications
Journals
- Okell LC; Griffin JT; Kleinschmidt I; Hollingsworth TD; Churcher TS; White MJ; Bousema T; Drakeley CJ; et alGhani AC. (2011). The potential contribution of mass treatment to the control of Plasmodium falciparum malaria. PLoS One. 6:e20179. DOI.
- Griffin JT; Hollingsworth TD; Okell LC; Churcher TS; White M; Hinsley W; Bousema T; Drakeley CJ; et alFerguson NM; Basáñez MG; Ghani AC. (2010). Reducing Plasmodium falciparum malaria transmission in Africa: a model-based evaluation of intervention strategies. PLoS Med. 7. DOI Open Access copy.
- Bousema T; Okell L; Shekalaghe S; Griffin JT; Omar S; Sawa P; Sutherland C; Sauerwein R; et alGhani AC; Drakeley C. (2010). Revisiting the circulation time of Plasmodium falciparum gametocytes: molecular detection methods to estimate the duration of gametocyte carriage and the effect of gametocytocidal drugs. Malar J. 9:136. Author weblink DOI.
- Steenkeste N; Rogers WO; Okell L; Jeanne I; Incardona S; Duval L; Chy S; Hewitt S; et alChou M; Socheat D; Babin FX; Ariey F; Rogier C. (2010). Sub-microscopic malaria cases and mixed malaria infection in a remote area of high malaria endemicity in Rattanakiri province, Cambodia: implication for malaria elimination. Malar J. 9:108. Author weblink DOI.
- Wipasa J; Suphavilai C; Okell LC; Cook J; Corran PH; Thaikla K; Liewsaree W; Riley EM; et alHafalla JC. (2010). Long-lived antibody and B Cell memory responses to the human malaria parasites, Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax. PLoS Pathog. 6:e1000770. Author weblink DOI.
- Okell LC; Ghani AC; Lyons E; Drakeley CJ. (2009). Submicroscopic infection in Plasmodium falciparum-endemic populations: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Infect Dis. 200:1509-1517. Author weblink DOI.
- Okell LC; Drakeley CJ; Bousema T; Whitty CJ; Ghani AC. (2008). Modelling the impact of artemisinin combination therapy and long-acting treatments on malaria transmission intensity. PLoS Med. 5:e226-e226. Author weblink DOI.
- Okell LC; Drakeley CJ; Ghani AC; Bousema T; Sutherland CJ. (2008). Reduction of transmission from malaria patients by artemisinin combination therapies: a pooled analysis of six randomized trials. Malar J. 7:125. Author weblink DOI.
