John Russell Stothard (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 Schistosomiasis, also known as snail fever, bilharzia, and Katayama fever, is a disease caused by parasitic flatworms called schistosomes. The urinary tract or the intestines may be infected. Symptoms include abdominal pain, diarrhea, bloody s ...

and

neglected tropical diseases Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are a diverse group of tropical disease, tropical infections that are common in low-income populations in Developing country, developing regions of Africa, Asia, and the Americas. They are caused by a variety ...

. He was the recipient of the

Bicentenary Medal of the Linnean Society The Bicentenary Medal is a scientific award given by the Linnean Society. It is awarded annually in recognition of work done by a biologist under the age of 40 years. The medal was first awarded in 1978 on the 200th anniversary of the death of ...

of London in 2004, and the C.A. Wright Memorial Medal of the British Society for Parasitology in 2019. He has previously held positions at London's Natural History Museum, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and at

Imperial College London Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

between 1992 and 2010.

Early life and education

Stothard grew up on a

livestock Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to animals ...

farm in coastal

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land on ...

in the north of

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Upon leaving college, he joined

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

to study for a

BSc A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

in Zoology and Microbiology between 1988 and 1991, before graduating and moving to join

University of York , mottoeng = On the threshold of wisdom , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £8.0 million , budget = £403.6 million , chancellor = Heather Melville , vice_chancellor = Charlie Jeffery , students ...

in 1991 to complete a

MSc MSC may refer to: Computers * Message Sequence Chart * Microelectronics Support Centre of UK Rutherford Appleton Laboratory * MIDI Show Control * MSC Malaysia (formerly known as Multimedia Super Corridor) * USB mass storage device class (USB MSC ...

in Biological Computation. Between 1992 and 1995, he undertook

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

studies focused on the

epidemiology Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution (who, when, and where), patterns and determinants of health and disease conditions in a defined population. It is a cornerstone of public health, and shapes policy decisions and evidenc ...

sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. These include West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the List of sov ...

, jointly hosted at

and Natural History Museum,

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

under the supervision of David Rollinson.

Research and teaching career

Stothard's research and teaching is focused upon medical

parasitology Parasitology is the study of parasites, their hosts, and the relationship between them. As a biological discipline, the scope of parasitology is not determined by the organism or environment in question but by their way of life. This means it fo ...

, with particular emphasis on

, most notably the

and control of

. His work seeks to advance understanding of key parasites and

intermediate host In biology and medicine, a host is a larger organism that harbours a smaller organism; whether a parasitic, a mutualistic, or a commensalist ''guest'' (symbiont). The guest is typically provided with nourishment and shelter. Examples include a ...

s/ 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 Scopus is Elsevier's abstract and citation database launched in 2004. Scopus covers nearly 36,377 titles (22,794 active titles and 13,583 inactive titles) from approximately 11,678 publishers, of which 34,346 are peer-reviewed journals in top-l ...

(>6300 citations, h-index 41, average citation per item 26.4
ORCID: 0000-0002-9370-3420
ref name=":3">), with the top five-most cited publications accumulating 567 citations to date. Stothard's research relevance has prompted invites to present, chair and contribute to several

World Health Organisation The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of h ...

(WHO) expert committees including 'Guideline Review at Head Office/African Regional Office (Schistosomiasis)'; 'Roadmap for control of schistosomiasis: Schistosomiasis: progress report 2001–2011, strategic plan 2012–2020'; and 'Eliminating soil-transmitted helminthiases as a public health problem in children Progress report 2001−2010 and strategic plan 2011–2020'. Russ in Malawi in 2018 collecting snails

Russ in Malawi in 2018 collecting snails

Stothard has been director of COUNTDOWN, a large DFID-UK funded interdisciplinary implementation research consortium (2014–2019), and lead a

Wellcome Trust The Wellcome Trust is a charitable foundation focused on health research based in London, in the United Kingdom. It was established in 1936 with legacies from the pharmaceutical magnate Henry Wellcome (founder of one of the predecessors of Glaxo ...

funded longitudinal cohort study of Schistosomiasis in Mothers and Infants''' (SIMI) project (2008–2013), which featured on BBC2. His work as a founding member of the

Schistosomiasis Control Initiative The SCI Foundation (SCI), or the Schistosomiasis Control Initiative, is a non-profit initiative that works with governments in sub-Saharan African countries to develop sustainable programmes against parasitic worm infections ( schistosomiasis an ...

(2002–2004), and involvement in study of the hybrid biology of

first beginning in

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 � ...

a decade ago with EU_CONTRAST (2006–2010), are of relevance in use of

point-of-care Clinical point of care (POC) is the point in time when clinicians deliver healthcare products and services to patients at the time of care. Clinical documentation Clinical documentation is a record of the critical thinking and judgment of a health ...

diagnostics Diagnosis is the identification of the nature and cause of a certain phenomenon. Diagnosis is used in many different disciplines, with variations in the use of logic, analytics, and experience, to determine "cause and effect". In systems engineer ...

, molecular approaches and inclusion of one-health understanding of

control.

Awards and memberships

Stothard's multidisciplinary studies on

Zanzibar Zanzibar (; ; ) is an insular semi-autonomous province which united with Tanganyika in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania. It is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of many small islands ...

, provided groundwork for subsequent international efforts towards elimination strategies in

urogenital The genitourinary system, or urogenital system, are the organs of the reproductive system and the urinary system. These are grouped together because of their proximity to each other, their common embryological origin and the use of common pathwa ...

. This work gained him the

of London in 2004. In April 2019, Stothard was again honoured with the 2019 C.A. Wright Memorial Medal of the

British Society for Parasitology The British Society for Parasitology is a UK-based organisation of British parasitologists. It was founded in April 1962 from the Parasitological Section of the Institute of Biology The Institute of Biology (IoB) was a professional body for biolog ...

for outstanding contribution to

over more than twenty years. Stothard is the co-editor of two peer-reviewed scientific journals, ''

Advances in Parasitology ''Advances in Parasitology'' is an annual book series of reviews addressing topics in parasitology, for both human and veterinary medicine. It is currently published by Academic Press and is abstracted and indexed in MEDLINE MEDLINE (Medical L ...

'' and ''

Parasitology Parasitology is the study of parasites, their hosts, and the relationship between them. As a biological discipline, the scope of parasitology is not determined by the organism or environment in question but by their way of life. This means it fo ...

'' 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. Following completion of this appointment, he was elected to Honorary General Secretary of the

between 2011 and 2016. He remains an ordinary member of both societies.

References

External links

Professor Russ Stothard's staff website at Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stothard, John Russell 1970 births Living people Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society Fellows of the Linnean Society of London British parasitologists Academics of the University of Liverpool Alumni of the University of Leeds Alumni of the University of York Alumni of University College London