John Russell Stothard FRGS FLS (born 21 March 1970) is a British scientist, professor of parasitology at Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, and well known for his teaching and research into schistosomiasis and neglected tropical diseases. He was the recipient of the Bicentenary Medal of the Linnean Society of London in 2004,[1] and the C.A. Wright Memorial Medal of the British Society for Parasitology in 2019.[2] He has previously held positions at London's Natural History Museum, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and at Imperial College London between 1992 and 2010.

John Russell Stothard
Born (1970-03-21) 21 March 1970 (age 54)
Alma mater
OccupationProfessor of Parasitology
Known forEpidemiology and control of schistosomiasis and neglected tropical diseases (NTDs).
AwardsBicentenary Medal of the Linnean Society of London in 2004; C.A. Wright Memorial Medal of the British Society for Parasitology in 2019.
Websitewww.lstmed.ac.uk/about/people/professor-russell-stothard

Early life and education

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Stothard grew up on a livestock farm in coastal Northumberland in the north of England.[3] Upon leaving college, he joined University of Leeds to study for a BSc in Zoology and Microbiology between 1988 and 1991, before graduating and moving to join University of York in 1991 to complete a MSc in Biological Computation. Between 1992 and 1995, he undertook PhD studies focused on the epidemiology of schistosomiasis in sub-Saharan Africa, jointly hosted at Imperial College London and Natural History Museum, London under the supervision of David Rollinson.

Research and teaching career

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Stothard's research and teaching is focused upon medical parasitology, with particular emphasis on neglected tropical diseases, most notably the epidemiology and control of schistosomiasis. His work seeks to advance understanding of key parasites and intermediate hosts/vectors thereof, to better tailor future interventions in control and elimination of parasitic disease in not only humans, but to other animals including livestock, companion animals and wildlife.

He has over 237 publications on Scopus (>6300 citations, h-index 41, average citation per item 26.4;[4] ORCID: 0000-0002-9370-3420[5]), with the top five-most cited publications accumulating 567 citations to date.[6][7][8][9][10]

Stothard's research relevance has prompted invites to present, chair and contribute to several World Health Organisation (WHO) expert committees including 'Guideline Review at Head Office/African Regional Office (Schistosomiasis)';[11] 'Roadmap for control of schistosomiasis: Schistosomiasis: progress report 2001–2011, strategic plan 2012–2020';[12] and 'Eliminating soil-transmitted helminthiases as a public health problem in children Progress report 2001−2010 and strategic plan 2011–2020'.[13]

 
Stothard in Malawi in 2018, collecting snail intermediate hosts of Schistosoma species parasites

Stothard has been director of COUNTDOWN,[14] a large DFID-UK funded interdisciplinary implementation research consortium (2014–2019), and lead a Wellcome Trust funded longitudinal cohort study of 'Schistosomiasis in Mothers and Infants' (SIMI) project (2008–2013),[15][16] which featured on BBC2.[17] His work as a founding member of the Schistosomiasis Control Initiative (2002–2004), and involvement in study of the hybrid biology of schistosomiasis first beginning in Senegal a decade ago with EU_CONTRAST (2006–2010),[18] are of relevance in use of point-of-care diagnostics, molecular approaches and inclusion of one-health understanding of schistosomiasis control.

Awards and memberships

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Stothard's multidisciplinary studies on Zanzibar, provided groundwork for subsequent international efforts towards elimination strategies in urogenital schistosomiasis.[19][20] This work gained him the Bicentenary Medal of the Linnean Society of London in 2004.[1]

In April 2019, Stothard was again honoured with the 2019 C.A. Wright Memorial Medal of the British Society for Parasitology for outstanding contribution to parasitology over more than twenty years.[2] Stothard is the co-editor of two peer-reviewed scientific journals, Advances in Parasitology and Parasitology[3] and a regular reviewer for a range of other peer-reviewed scientific journals.

Between 2004 and 2010 he was elected as honorary scientific secretary and executive board member at the Royal Society for Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.[21] Following completion of this appointment, he was elected to Honorary General Secretary of the British Society for Parasitology between 2011 and 2016. He remains an ordinary member of both societies.

References

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  1. ^ a b "The Bicentenary Medal". The Linnean Society. Retrieved 2020-02-22.
  2. ^ a b "Congratulations to our 2019 Medal Winners and new Honorary Members". The British Society For Parasitology. 6 March 2019. Retrieved 2020-02-22.
  3. ^ a b "Meet the Editors: Q&A with Professor J Russell Stothard, Editor for Parasitology « Life Sciences « Cambridge Core Blog". www.cambridge.org. 4 February 2020. Retrieved 2020-02-22.
  4. ^ "Scopus preview – Scopus – Author details (Stothard, J. Russell)". www.scopus.com. Retrieved 2020-02-22.
  5. ^ ORCID. "Russell Stothard (0000-0002-9370-3420)". orcid.org. Retrieved 2020-02-22.
  6. ^ Rollinson, David; Knopp, Stefanie; Levitz, Sarah; Stothard, J. Russell; Tchuem Tchuenté, Louis-Albert; Garba, Amadou; Mohammed, Khalfan A.; Schur, Nadine; Person, Bobbie; Colley, Daniel G.; Utzinger, Jürg (2013-11-01). "Time to set the agenda for schistosomiasis elimination". Acta Tropica. CONTRAST alliance: optimized surveillance and sustainable control of schistosomiasis. 128 (2): 423–440. doi:10.1016/j.actatropica.2012.04.013. ISSN 0001-706X. PMID 22580511.
  7. ^ Stothard, J. Russell; Sousa-Figueiredo, José C.; Betson, Martha; Bustinduy, Amaya; Reinhard-Rupp, Jutta (2013-04-01). "Schistosomiasis in African infants and preschool children: let them now be treated!". Trends in Parasitology. 29 (4): 197–205. doi:10.1016/j.pt.2013.02.001. ISSN 1471-4922. PMC 3878762. PMID 23465781.
  8. ^ Tchuenté, Louis-Albert Tchuem; Fouodo, Césaire Joris Kueté; Ngassam, Romuald Isaka Kamwa; Sumo, Laurentine; Noumedem, Calvine Dongmo; Kenfack, Christian Mérimé; Gipwe, Nestor Feussom; Nana, Esther Dankoni; Stothard, J. Russell; Rollinson, David (2012-07-31). "Evaluation of Circulating Cathodic Antigen (CCA) Urine-Tests for Diagnosis of Schistosoma mansoni Infection in Cameroon". PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases. 6 (7): e1758. doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0001758. ISSN 1935-2735. PMC 3409114. PMID 22860148.
  9. ^ Solomon, Anthony W.; Engels, Dirk; Bailey, Robin L.; Blake, Isobel M.; Brooker, Simon; Chen, Jia-Xu; Chen, Jun-Hu; Churcher, Thomas S.; Drakeley, Chris J.; Edwards, Tansy; Fenwick, Alan (2012-07-31). "A Diagnostics Platform for the Integrated Mapping, Monitoring, and Surveillance of Neglected Tropical Diseases: Rationale and Target Product Profiles". PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases. 6 (7): e1746. doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0001746. ISSN 1935-2735. PMC 3409112. PMID 22860146.
  10. ^ Lo, Nathan C.; Addiss, David G.; Hotez, Peter J.; King, Charles H.; Stothard, J. Russell; Evans, Darin S.; Colley, Daniel G.; Lin, William; Coulibaly, Jean T.; Bustinduy, Amaya L.; Raso, Giovanna (2017-02-01). "A call to strengthen the global strategy against schistosomiasis and soil-transmitted helminthiasis: the time is now". The Lancet Infectious Diseases. 17 (2): e64–e69. doi:10.1016/S1473-3099(16)30535-7. ISSN 1473-3099. PMC 5280090. PMID 27914852.
  11. ^ "WHO | WHO Guideline Development Group proposalGuidelines for implementation of control and elimination of schistosomiasis and verification of interruption of transmission". WHO. Archived from the original on September 15, 2018. Retrieved 2020-02-22.
  12. ^ "WHO | Schistosomiasis: progress report 2001–2011, strategic plan 2012–2020". WHO. Archived from the original on November 28, 2018. Retrieved 2020-02-22.
  13. ^ "WHO | Eliminating soil-transmitted helminthiases as a public health problem in children". WHO. Archived from the original on June 10, 2017. Retrieved 2020-02-22.
  14. ^ "COUNTDOWN, calling time on neglected tropical diseases". COUNTDOWN. Retrieved 2020-02-22.
  15. ^ "Funded people and projects | Wellcome". wellcome.ac.uk. Retrieved 2020-02-22.
  16. ^ Stothard, J. Russell; Sousa-Figueiredo, José C.; Betson, Martha; Bustinduy, Amaya; Reinhard-Rupp, Jutta (2013-04-01). "Schistosomiasis in African infants and preschool children: let them now be treated!". Trends in Parasitology. 29 (4): 197–205. doi:10.1016/j.pt.2013.02.001. ISSN 1471-4922. PMC 3878762. PMID 23465781.
  17. ^ "BBC Two - Museum of Life, All Creatures Great and Small". BBC. Retrieved 2020-02-22.
  18. ^ "A multidisciplinary alliance to optimize schistosomiasis control and transmission surveillance in sub-Saharan Africa". The Community Research and Development Information Service (CORDIS). Retrieved 2020-02-22.
  19. ^ Stothard, J. R.; Mgeni, A. F.; Khamis, S.; Seto, E.; Ramsan, M.; Hubbard, S. J.; Kristensen, T. K.; Rollinson, D. (2002-09-01). "New insights into the transmission biology of urinary schistosomiasis in Zanzibar". Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. 96 (5): 470–475. doi:10.1016/S0035-9203(02)90406-2. ISSN 0035-9203. PMID 12474469.
  20. ^ Stothard, J. R.; Mgeni, A. F.; Khamis, S.; Seto, E.; Ramsan, M.; Rollinson, D. (2002-09-01). "Urinary schistosomiasis in schoolchildren on Zanzibar Island (Unguja), Tanzania: a parasitological survey supplemented with questionnaires". Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. 96 (5): 507–514. doi:10.1016/S0035-9203(02)90421-9. ISSN 0035-9203. PMID 12474477.
  21. ^ "Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene". Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. Retrieved 2020-02-22.
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