Professor Caroline Trotter

Infectious disease epidemiology and the impact of immunisation

I am an infectious disease epidemiologist with a particular interest in vaccine evaluation. Most of my work is on human diseases, in particular meningococcal disease, but my research encompasses a range of other infections including rabies, pneumococcus, Hib, group B streptococcus, HPV, rotavirus, and norovirus. I use a variety of methods, including field studies, observational studies, mathematical modelling and cost-effectiveness. I enjoy addressing questions of direct relevance to vaccine and public health policy.

I am Professor of Global Health at the Univeristy of Cambridge. I am the Director of Cambridge-Africa and co-lead for the Global Health theme at Cambridge Public Health. I run the module on Infectious Diseases for the MPhil in Population Health Sciences.

Outside of Cambridge, I am the Director of the Vaccine Impact Modelling Consortium (VIMC) and Professor of Infectious DIsease Epidemiology at Imperial College. I work with the UK Health Security Agency's Immunisation Department and collaborate with the World Health Organisation.

Biography

I obtained my first degree in Human Sciences from the University of Oxford, followed by an MSc and PhD in Infectious Disease Epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. I worked at the Health Protection Agency and then the University of Bristol before moving to Cambridge in January 2013.

Research

My research concentrates on understanding the epidemiology of vaccine-preventable diseases and the impact of immunisation. The majority of my work is on meningococcal infection, but I am also involved in research on pneumococcus, group B streptococcus, rotavirus and human papillomavirus. I use a range of methods including analysis of large databases, systematic reviews, prospective clinical/ field studies, health economics, seroprevalence studies and mathematical modelling. I am most interested in applying these methods to research questions of direct relevance for vaccine policy.

I work with the African Meningococcal Carriage Consortium (MenAfriCar), a global research effort to study how meningococcal meningitis is spread in Africa, and to document the impact of a new meningitis vaccine (MenAfriVac) on reducing transmission.

I also work on collaborative projects with Public Health England, University of Bristol, St Georges University of London, Agence de Medicine Preventive and the World Health Organisation.

Click for details of Meningitis Research Foundation funded projects on cost-effectiveness of GBS vaccines, persistence of MenAfriVac, use of MenAfriVac in pregnant women and how people value the benefits of vaccination.

Publications

Key publications:

Google Scholar - link to all publications

Gaythorpe KA, Abbas K, Huber J, Karachaliou A, Thakkar N, Woodruff K, Li X, Echeverria-Londono S; VIMC Working Group on COVID-19 Impact on Vaccine Preventable Disease, Ferrari M, Jackson ML, McCarthy K, Perkins TA, Trotter C, Jit M. Impact of COVID-19-related disruptions to measles, meningococcal A, and yellow fever vaccination in 10 countries. Elife. 2021 Jun 24;10:e67023. doi: 10.7554/eLife.67023.

Li X, Mukandavire C, Cucunuba ZM et al, Vaccine Impact Modelling Consortium. Estimating the health impact of vaccination against ten pathogens in 98 low-income and middle-income countries from 2000 to 2030: a modelling study. Lancet. 2021 Jan 30;397(10272):398-408. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(20)32657-X

Cooper LV, Ronveaux O, Fernandez K, Lingani C, Goumbi K, Ihekweazu C, Preziosi M-P, Durupt A, Trotter CL. Spatio-temporal analysis of serogroup C meningococcal meningitis spread in Niger and Nigeria and implications for epidemic response. J Infect Dis 2019, Oct 31;220(Supplement_4)

WHO Rabies Modelling Consortium (Corresponding authors Trotter CL, Hampson K). The potential impact of improved provision of rabies post-exposure prophylaxis in Gavi-eligible countries: a modelling study. Lancet Infectious Diseases, 2018, Nov 21. pii: S1473-3099(18)30512-7. doi: 10.1016/S1473-3099(18)30512-7

Trotter CL, Lingani C, Fernandez K, Cooper LV, Bita A, Tevi-Benissan C, Ronveaux O, Preziosi MP, Stuart JM. The impact of MenAfriVac in nine countries of the African meningitis belt, 2010-2015: an analysis of surveillance data. Lancet Infect Dis 2017, pii: S1473-3099(17)30301-8