Over 2 billion people live in urban informal settlements that are characterised by environmental degradation and unsanitary conditions and vulnerable to extreme weather events driven by climate change. These socio-ecological and climatic conditions favour environmental transmission of zoonotic diseases, such as Leptospira and Toxoplasma gondii, which can persist in water and wet soil for long periods, making them sensitive to rainfall events and flooding.

This project will examine how socio-demographic and environmental processes that drive zoonotic spillover of Leptospira and T. gondii interact with flooding events in marginalised urban communities in the city of Salvador, Brazil. It will take an intersectional eco-epidemiological approach to jointly analyse existing data collected at the human-environment-animal interface during a longitudinal community cohort study, linking data on human seroincidence, animal reservoirs, and pathogen load in soil and water samples. The student will also be responsible for collecting data to explore how exposures and social actions vary with socio-demographic status and following flooding events, and how this determines spillover risk. This project will generate evidence on how climate change will drive transmission of environmentally-transmitted zoonoses and inform the development of interventions that target high-risk population groups.

Specific objectives:

1. Conduct a systematic and/or scoping review on the impact of flooding events on transmission of environmentally persistent zoonoses across socio-demographic status.

2. Use qualitative participatory methods to establish a theoretical framework that will guide quantitative, direct measurement of i) exposure to animal excreta and the environment and ii) household hygiene and sanitation activities relevant to the two target diseases. Analyse these data to examine how they vary by socio-demographic status and before/following flooding events.

3. For each disease, determine how individual infection risk and household risk vary by sociodemographic status and can be explained by exposures and hygiene activities measured during flooding events.

The student will work within established interdisciplinary research teams in this UK-Brazil research partnership. They will be hosted at LSHTM’s Environmental Health Group, a world leading, multidisciplinary team of 40+ professional researchers, PhD students, and project support staff working on environmental health issues in high burden settings. During the placement in Salvador (minimum of four months), they will be embedded in research groups at ISC-UFBA and IGM-Fiocruz with decades of experience conducting community-centred research on zoonoses in informal settlements. They will have the opportunity to disseminate their research outputs in meetings with local researchers, community members and public health agencies, and at national and international academic conferences. The proposed multidisciplinary supervisory team and placement will allow them to develop the interdisciplinary skills and experience that are essential for studying zoonotic disease transmission at the human-animal-environment interface. This development will be supported with quantitative and qualitative methods training at LSHTM, Cardiff School of Social Sciences and UFBA/Fiocruz.

The student will gain expertise in quantitative methods (hierarchical regression models, geospatial methods), R coding, causal inference, and participatory/qualitative methods. They will also develop skills in systematic reviews, data synthesis, and interdisciplinary communication through collaborating with, and disseminating research outputs to, local and international stakeholders. The student will be primarily based in London, with time spent in Brazil.

Supervisory team
Principal Supervisor: Dr Max Eyre (LSHTM)
Co-Supervisor: Dr Robert Dreibelbis (LSHTM)
Co-Supervisor: Dr Sara Macbride-Stewart (Cardiff University)

Funding Notes
This fully funded PhD studentship includes Home (UK) tuition fees, a stipend paid at UKRI rates, and a bench fee allowance. Please see the OneZoo CDT website for further information at www.onezoo.uk.