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An Interdisciplinary Research Centre at the University of Cambridge
 

Biography

I completed my first undergraduate degree at the Australian National University (ANU) in medical science, before completing a B.A in sociology and social policy at the University of Sydney. I joined the Disease Dynamics Unit (DDU) at Cambridge in 2012 as a master’s student interested in pursuing multi-disciplinary research on zoonoses and completed my PhD in the same area in 2017. I am now a Junior Research Fellow at Queens’ College and remain part of the DDU.

 

Research

My research interests lie in outbreak surveillance and response systems, particularly those in Sub-Saharan Africa and how they manage outbreaks of uncertain aetiology. My research sits at the intersection of medical anthropology and applied epidemiology as I apply ethnographic methods to better understand the beliefs and practices of public health professionals and how they influence the efficiency outbreak responses.

My recent work has encompassed a range of areas and topics, from purely epidemiological investigations into outbreaks of unknown origin to larger anthropological investigations of health systems, critiques of epidemiological methods and discussions of African sovereignty and the global economy of public health.

In addition to my work at the university, I occasionally work as a Manager of Epidemiological Activities for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) performing outbreak investigations and responses in some of their African missions. I also perform intermittent consultancy for the World Health Organization (WHO) relating to global health systems strengthening. 

 

Postdoctoral Research Associate at Centre for the Study of Existential Risk
Research Fellow (JRF) in Emerging Infectious Diseases, Department of Veterinary Medicine
Outbreak surveillance and response systems, particularly those in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Dr Freya  Jephcott
Available for consultancy

Affiliations

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Person keywords: 
Science and Technology Studies
Global Health
Epidemic control
Public Health
Africa
Anthropology
Epidemiology
Health-seeking behaviours
Public Policy