Assistant Professor Laura Skrip

Speciality / Research theme / Keywords

Infectious disease dynamics, social epidemiological modeling, vaccine impact

Supervision

Masters ProgrammeDoctoral Programme

Qualifications

MPH, PhD

Background

2024-Present, Assistant Professor, School of Tropical Medicine and Global Health, Nagasaki University, Japan (Joint appointment)
2024-Present, Assistant Professor, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK (Joint appointment)
2021-2024: Associate Professor, University of Liberia School of Public Health, Monrovia, Liberia
2020-2021: Scientific Collaborator, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute
2020: Assistant Professor, University of Liberia School of Public Health, Monrovia, Liberia
2018-2020: Postdoctoral Research Scientist, Institute for Disease Modeling, Seattle, WA, USA
2017-2018: Technical Assistant, National Public Health Institute of Liberia, Monrovia, Liberia

Teaching

“Epidemiology” and “Statistics for Population Health” modules

Research

I collaborate with social scientists, clinicians, basic science researchers, and communities to inform mathematical models for quantifying the potential impact of behavior-focused tools and approaches. Recent work has considered the impact on measles outcomes of increased vaccination uptake by beneficiaries of nutrition supplementation programs. Other projects have investigated the role of risk communication and community engagement programs in moderating communities’ adoption of response recommendations during COVID-19 and Ebola outbreaks. My work has involved field experience to understand context and guide policy and practice in Liberia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Cameroon.

The country/countries where you work currently

Liberia

Recent publications

1. Skrip, L., Weller, M., Dukuly, S., Clarke, A., Candy, N., Harmon-Gray, W.M., Dahn, B.T. Unraveling the effects of the Ebola experience on behaviour choices during COVID-19 in Liberia: A mixed methods study across successive outbreaks. BMC Global Public Health. 2024; 2, 22.

2. Noori, N., Skrip, L.A., Oron, A.P., McCarthy, K.A., Proctor, J.L., Chabot-Couture, G., Althouse, BM., Phelan, K. and Trehan, I. (2022). Potential Impacts of Mass Nutritional Supplementation on Measles Dynamics: A Simulation Study. The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. 2022; 107(4): 863–872.

3. Skrip, L.A., Fallah, M.P., Bedson, J., Hébert-Dufresne, L., and Althouse, B.M. (2021). Coordinated support for local action: A modeling study of strategies to facilitate behavior adoption in urban poor communities of Liberia for sustained COVID-19 suppression. Epidemics. 2021; 37: 100529.

4. Bedson, J.*, Skrip, L.A.*, Pedi, D., Abramowitz, S., Carter, S., Funk, S., Gobat, N., Jalloh, M.F., Giles-Vernick, T., Chowell, G., de Almeida, J.R., Elessawi, R., Scarpino, S.V., Hammond, R.A., Briand, S., Epstein, J.M., Hébert-Dufresne, L., Althouse, B.M. Integrated Disease Modeling:  A review of mathematical approaches, social science research, and risk communication and community engagement practices to inform the inclusion of social-behavioural factors in models of infectious disease dynamics. Nature Human Behaviour. 2021; 5(7): 834-846. *Contributed equally

5. Skrip, L.A., Bedson, J., Abramowitz, S., Jalloh, M.B., Bah, S., Jalloh, M.F., Langle Chimal, O.D., Cheney, N., Hébert-Dufresne, L., Althouse, B.M. Unmet needs and behavior during the Ebola response in Sierra Leone: a retrospective, mixed-methods analysis of community feedback from the Social Mobilization Action Consortium. The Lancet Planetary Health. 2020; 4(2): PE74-E85.