Laura Ferguson, PhD

Associate Professor of Population and Public Health Sciences and Spatial Sciences

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Overview

Laura Ferguson is an Associate Professor of Population and Public Health Sciences at the Keck School of Medicine. She is the Director of the Program on Global Health & Human Rights and the Director of Research at the Institute on Inequalities in Global Health. She is also on the faculty of USC Dornsife’s Spatial Sciences Institute and she is an Associate Research Professor at Amref International University in Nairobi, Kenya. Dr. Ferguson earned her MSc in Population and International Health from the Harvard School of Public Health and her PhD from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Her work focuses on understanding and addressing health system, structural and societal factors affecting health, and developing the evidence base of how attention to human rights can improve health outcomes.

Dr. Ferguson has spent extended periods of time in low-income countries, primarily in sub-Saharan Africa, collaborating with local partners to design and manage research and programs to tackle a broad range of issues including HIV/AIDS, sexual and reproductive health, and child health.

Dr. Ferguson serves on a range of expert advisory groups to the World Health Organization and UNAIDS. She is also an Associate Editor for Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters and the American Journal of Public Health.

Publications

  • The gene cortex controls mimicry and crypsis in butterflies and moths. Nature. 2016 06 02; 534(7605):106-10.. View in PubMed
  • Non-communicable diseases and human rights: Global synergies, gaps and opportunities. Glob Public Health. 2017 10; 12(10):1200-1227.. View in PubMed
  • The HIV care cascade: models, measures and moving forward. J Int AIDS Soc. 2015; 18:19395.. View in PubMed
  • The current state of play of research on the social, political and legal dimensions of HIV. Cad Saude Publica. 2015 Mar; 31(3):477-86.. View in PubMed
  • Ancient expansion of the hox cluster in lepidoptera generated four homeobox genes implicated in extra-embryonic tissue formation. PLoS Genet. 2014 Oct; 10(10):e1004698.. View in PubMed
  • The Glanville fritillary genome retains an ancient karyotype and reveals selective chromosomal fusions in Lepidoptera. Nat Commun. 2014 Sep 05; 5:4737.. View in PubMed
  • Linking women who test HIV-positive in pregnancy-related services to HIV care and treatment services in Kenya: a mixed methods prospective cohort study. PLoS One. 2014; 9(3):e89764.. View in PubMed
  • Noncommunicable diseases and human rights: a promising synergy. Am J Public Health. 2014 May; 104(5):773-5.. View in PubMed
  • Realigning government action with public health evidence: the legal and policy environment affecting sex work and HIV in Asia. Cult Health Sex. 2014; 16(1):14-29.. View in PubMed
  • Identifying structural barriers to an effective HIV response: using the National Composite Policy Index data to evaluate the human rights, legal and policy environment. J Int AIDS Soc. 2013 Apr 26; 16:18000.. View in PubMed