Cristin ALexis Fergus

BS, MPH, MRES, PhD

Education

London School of Economics and political science

Doctor of Philosophy in International Development
May 2022
”Evidence for Decision-making: Essays on the Financial, Delivery, and Governance Arrangements in Global Health”

London School of Economics and political science

Master of Research in International Development
September 2017

Tulane University

Master of Public Health in Measurement and Evaluation
December 2013

University of wisconsin-milwaukee

Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry
September 2006

professional AND SKILLS SUMMARY

• ·   Over ten years of experience developing, and using outputs from, routine surveillance systems, household surveys, epidemiological and economic models to support evidence for decision-making;

• ·   Experienced in supporting the formulation of subnational, national, and global health policies and public health intervention implementation, including aspects of equity and social determinants of health;

• ·   Loves data collection, management, analysis, visualization, communication in applied settings;

• ·   Proficient in Python, R, Stata, SPSS, Excel, MaxQDA, Nvivo, ArcGIS, QGIS; experienced in SQL, Julia, Tableau;

• ·   Degrees in life sciences (BS), epidemiology and biostatistics (MPH), health economics & policy evaluation (MRes, PhD);

• ·   Published peer-reviewed journal articles, policy documents and reports, contributions to academic textbooks.

Selected professional experience

Technical Officer, monitoring, forecasting and inequalities (mfi) Unit, division of data, analytics and delivery, World Health Organization (september 2022-present)

Serves as the global technical focal point for SDG 3.8.1 Universal Health Coverage Service Coverage Index; responsible for updating SDG 3.8.1 methods within the structure of the SDG global monitoring framework and developing updated time series of country, regional, and global estimates; facilitating country consultations on estimates with WHO Member States, and liaising with UN agencies and technical programs across all three levels of WHO; producing related high profile, high impact UHC reporting products, including UHC Global Monitoring Report 2023, databases, and associated UN reporting and communication pieces; support policy and Member State negotiations for UN General Assembly

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Independent consultant and contractor (january 2008-june 2022)

Field-based and remote work; design and implementation of monitoring frameworks to assess complex health interventions; health economics and outcome research; development metrics for monitoring health outcomes, interventions, and services; clients include international organizations, non-governmental and civil society organizations, and the private sector.

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Research Officer, African Spatial Political Economy Project, london school of economics and political science (May-Aug 2018, Aug 2021-june 2022)                                                                                                      

Project management related to data visualisations and interpretations of complex economic and political science data for the African Spatial Political Economy (ASPE) project; coordinated results of historical analyses of electoral outcomes and the impact of socio-economic-political indicators using quantitative spatial methods; managed multiple large datasets of remote sensing, geographic, economic, and health data using python, Stata, R, ArcGIS and QGIS software packages.

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Lead Investigator, Localised Evidence and Decision-making Project, Firoz Lalji Centre for Africa, London School of Economics and Political Science (January 2019-april 2021)

Designed the Localised Evidence for Decision-making (LEAD) research project and raised funds for implementation (UKRI £450,000); led all aspects of the research project, which combined social science approaches with computational modelling and statistical methodologies to tailor evidence for decision-making; project management, including budget and staff decisions, and coordination of outputs and impact; supervised research teams in UK, Uganda, and Malawi; developed evidence with academics and national governments used to tailor health policy and practice at the local and national levels.

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Technical Officer, Strategy, Evidence, Economics Unit, Global Malaria Programme, World Health Organization (november 2013-january 2016)                                                                                                          

Developed evidence for country/regional policy development and global strategic plans, including disease burden estimates and metrics related to population-based interventions; facilitated country consultation processes for these estimates at the country and regional levels; developed and helped implement disease surveillance plans and trainings; provided text, visualizations, and production support for WHO and UN-wide reports; contributed to the development and implementation of country-level disease surveillance plans and trainings.

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Research Assistant, Tulane University School of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (september 2011-november 2013)                                                                                        

Analyzed and managed national and local household malaria survey datasets with STATA, R, and ArcGIS and summarized results for use in reports/publications; developed projections and scenarios with LiST model; transformed remote sensing satellite data for use in spatial modeling of multiple disease outcomes; regular fieldwork in southern Zambia.

SELECTED Recent WORK

Cristin Alexis Fergus, Power across the global health landscape: a network analysis of development assistance 1990–2015, Health Policy and Planning, 2022; czac025, https://doi.org/10.1093/heapol/czac025

Fergus CA, Ozunga B, Okumu N, Parker M, Kamurari S, Allen T. Shifting the dynamics: implementation of locally driven, mixed-methods modelling to inform schistosomiasis control and elimination activities. BMJ Glob Health. 2022 Feb;7(2):e007113. doi: 10.1136/bmjgh-2021-007113. PMID: 35110273.

Storer E, Dawson K, Fergus CA. Covid-19 Riskscapes: Viral Risk Perceptions in the African Great Lakes. Med Anthropol. 2022 Mar 14:1-17. doi: 10.1080/01459740.2022.2047675. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 35286216.

Fergus, Cristin, Storer, Liz and Dawson, Katherine Shifting spaces: COVID-19 responses across the African Great Lakes region. Africa at LSE (2021).

SELECTED PEER-REVIEWED PUBLICATIONS

(See this PDF or GoogleScholar for full list)

Fergus, C.A., Storer, E., Arinaitwe, M. et al. COVID-19 information dissemination in Uganda: Perspectives from sub-national health workers. BMC Health Services Research 21, 1061 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-021-07068-x

CA Fergus, Pearson, GF. “Opportunities and disconnects in the use of primary research on schistosomiasis and soil-transmitted helminths for policy and practice: results from a survey of researchers”, Journal of Public Health Policy, 2021.

Parker, M., Fergus, C.A., Brown, C. et al. Legacies of humanitarian neglect: long term experiences of children who returned from the Lord’s Resistance Army in Uganda. Conflict and Health 15, 43 (2021).

Tidwell, J; Fergus, CA; Gopalakrishnan, A; Sheth, E; Sidibe, M; Wohlgemuth, L; Jain, A; Woods, G. (2019) “Integrating face washing into a school-based, handwashing behavior change program to prevent trachoma in Turkana, Kenya.” American Journal of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene. Accepted and in print.

Bennett A, Bisanzio D, Yukich J, Mappin B, Fergus CA, Lynch M, Cibulskis R, Bhatt S, Weiss D, Cameron E, Gething P, Eisele T. (2017) “Population coverage of artemisinin-based combination treatment in children younger than 5 years with fever and Plasmodium falciparum infection in Africa, 2003—2015:  a modelling study using data from national surveys.” Lancet Global Health. 5(4):418-427.

Cibulskis RE, Alonso P, Aponte J, Aregawi M, Barrette A, Bergeron L, Fergus CA, Knox T, Lynch M, Patouillard E, Schwarte S, Stewart S, Williams R. (2016) “Malaria:  Global progress 2000—2015 and future challenges.” Infectious Diseases of Poverty. (5)1.

Levy D, Fergus C, Rudov L, McCormick-Ricket I, Carton T. (2016) “Tobacco Policies in Louisiana: Recommendations for Future Tobacco Control Investment from SimSmoke, a Policy Simulation Model.” Prevention Sciences. 17(2):199-207.

Bhatt S, Weiss DJ, Cameron E, Bisanzio D, Mappin B, Dalrymple U, Battle K, Moyes CL, Henry A, Eckhoff PA, Wenger EA, Briët O, Penny MA, Smith TA, Bennett A, Yukich J, Eisele TP, Griffin JT, Fergus CA, Lynch M, Lindgren F, Murray CLJ, Smith DL, Hay SI, Cibulskis RE, Gething PW. (2015) “The impact of malaria control on Plasmodium falciparum in Africa, 2000 to 2015.” Nature. 526, 207—211.

Bhatt S, Weiss DJ, Mappin BJ, Dalrymple U, Cameron E, Bisanzio B, Smith DL, Moyes CL, Tatem AJ, Lynch M, Fergus CA, Yukich J, Bennett A, Eisele TP, Kolaczinski J, Cibulskis RE, Hay SI, Gething PW. (2015) “Coverage and system efficiencies of insecticide-treated nets in Africa from 2000 to 2017.” eLife. 4. pii: e09672.

BOOK CHAPTERS

Fergus, CA, Allen T, Parker M. (Forthcoming March 2021) ‘New Directions and Challenges for Health and Development’, in T. Allen and A. Thomas (eds.), Poverty and Development. Oxford University Press: Oxford.

Parker, M and Fergus CA. (Forthcoming March 2021) ‘Diseases of Poverty’, in T. Allen and A. Thomas (eds.), Poverty and Development. Oxford University Press: Oxford.

POLICY DOCUMENTS

Managed input from academics and practitioners, and developed content, including analysis, visualizations, interpretations and/or text for the following policy documents:

• Universal Health Coverage Global Monitoring Report (2019)

• World Malaria Report 2016, World Health Organization (2016)

• World Malaria Report 2015, World Health Organization (2015)

• Global Malaria Programme Millennium Development Goals Report, World Health Organization (2015)

• Control and Elimination of Plasmodium vivax Malaria, World Health Organization (2015)

• United Nations Secretary General Millennium Development Goals Report 2015, World Health Organization (2015)

• World Malaria Report 2014, World Health Organization (2014)

• United Nations Secretary General Millennium Development Goals Report 2014, World Health Organization (2014)

• World Malaria Report 2013, World Health Organization (2013)

Teaching experience

Dissertation Workshop Leader, Department of International Development, London School of economics and political science

Summer 2022

Masters-level and PhD students

Graduate Teaching Assistant, Evaluation of Public Health Interventions, Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine

Fall term 2012

Masters-level and PhD students

Graduate Teaching Assistant, Household Sampling Methods in Developing Countries, Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine

Spring term 2012

Masters-level and PhD students