Detail

Keywords

Drug Development; Epidemiologic Methods; Epidemiologic Research Design; Epidemiology; Infectious Disease Medicine; Molecular Epidemiology; Qualitative Research; Social Determinants of Health; Tropical Medicine

Research interests

I have a background in molecular biology and hold a DPhil in Clinical Medicine (University of Oxford), with working experience in pharma and the humanitarian sector (Médecins Sans Frontières, MSF).

My research interests include the epidemiology of infectious diseases, in particular poverty-related and Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs), and vaccines. Together with a group of trainees, I'm using a range of methods of clinical and applied epidemiology, combined with qualitative approaches for mixed-methods implementation research.

Ongoing projects include work on malaria diagnosis and treatment (SPARC-M/OEAD & PhD K. Ariesaka; Uganda and Indonesia), eumycetoma (PED-EM/DNDi), visceral leishmniasis and trachoma in collaboration with the Infectious Disease Data Observatory (IDDO) (PhD D. Getachew; East Africa), and schistosomiasis treatment (MSc V. Tuhaise; Brazil and Uganda). A recently conducted and implemented project used modelling approaches for evaluating the impact of vaccination programmes in Austria (BMSGPK).

Further interests include aspects of drug development for NTDs, such as characterisation of active compounds in plants (OEAD) and engaging patients in the process (e.g., consulting them on aspects of study design, treatment outcomes), as well as drug access. I'm passionate about teaching, and I'm also part of the MSc Infection Biology and Control faculty at CERMEL, Lambaréné, Gabon.

Publication list

Techniques, methods & infrastructure

• Applied quantitative epidemiological methods (statistical methods, in combination with molecular and laboratory work with collaborators)
• Qualitative methods (individual interviews and focus group discussions, community engagement)
• Mixed-methods implementation research
• Teaching

Grants

• SPARC-M (2026)
  Source of Funding: OeAD (Agency for Education and Internationalisation), KoEF
  Principal Investigator
• Monitoring of Ivermectin Resistance in Onchocerca volvulus (2012)
  Source of Funding: OeAW (Austrian Academy of Sciences), DOC-fFORTE fellowship
  Principal Investigator

Selected publications

1. Erber, A.C. et al. (2022) ‘The Association of Time of Day of ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 Vaccine Administration With SARS-CoV-2 Anti-Spike IgG Antibody Levels: An Exploratory Observational Study’, Journal of Biological Rhythms, 38(1), pp. 98–108. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/07487304221132355.
2. Erber, A.C. and Colebunders, R. (2022) ‘Ivermectin for malaria control in mass drug administration programmes’, The Lancet Infectious Diseases, 22(4), pp. 449–450. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/s1473-3099(22)00152-9.
3. Erber, A.C. et al. (2022) ‘Diagnosis of visceral and cutaneous leishmaniasis using loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) protocols: a systematic review and meta-analysis’, Parasites & Vectors, 15(1). Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13071-021-05133-2.
4. Erber, A.C. et al. (2021) ‘Setting up a pragmatic clinical trial in a low-resource setting: A qualitative assessment of GoLBeT, a trial of podoconiosis management in Northern Ethiopia’, PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases 15(7), p. e0009582. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0009582.
5. Castro, M.d.M. and Erber A.C. et al. (2024) “Involving patients in drug development for Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs): A qualitative study exploring and incorporating preferences of patients with cutaneous leishmaniasis into Target Product Profile development,” PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases 18(2), p. e0011975. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0011975.