Faculty

Judd L Walson

Affiliate Professor, Epidemiology
Affiliate Professor, Global Health

206-612-4571

Education

MPH Tufts University, 2000
BA Anthropology, Pitzer College, 1993
MD Tufts University, 2000

Contact

206-612-4571

Johns Hopkins University
Office Room E8527
615 N. Wolfe Street
Baltimore, MD 21205

Bio

Dr. Walson is chair of the Department of International Health at the Bloomberg School and the inaugural Robert E. Black Chair in International Health. Walson is a physician trained in Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, and Infectious Diseases with extensive experience working in research, public health programming, policy development, product development, and clinical practice. His research focuses on interventions to improve child survival, growth, and development in Africa and South Asia. He collaborates with ministries of health, NGOs, and academic partners in Bangladesh, Benin, Burkina Faso, India, Kenya, Malawi, Nepal, Pakistan, Thailand, and Uganda. Walson has conducted numerous trials investigating poor nutrition and infectious diseases to inform improvements in policy and programs globally. He has also worked in product development across vaccines, diagnostics, and devices.

He co-leads the Childhood Acute Illness and Nutrition (CHAIN) Network, a collaboration of experts working at institutions across sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. The studies conducted under the network have led to the development of strategies to reduce mortality among acutely ill children. The research has also led to novel approaches enabling risk-differentiated care, ensuring those at highest risk are supported adequately both during and after contact with the health system. He also leads the DeWorm3 study—a large community cluster randomized trial focused on eliminating soil-transmitted helminths that has enrolled over 360,000 individuals in Benin, Malawi, and India. These intestinal parasites include roundworm and hookworm and are among the most common causes of infections in humans, disproportionately impacting communities living in poverty.

Research Interests

Child and Adolescent Health; Child Mortality; Diarrheal Diseases; Epidemiology; Global Health; Infectious Diseases; Malaria; Maternal Child Health; Neglected Diseases; Tropical Medicine

Recent Publications (PubMed)

Is rotavirus aetiology in young children with acute diarrhoea associated with sociodemographic and clinical factors, including rotavirus vaccination status? A secondary cross-sectional analysis of the ABCD trial.
(2025 Jul 27)
BMJ Glob Health 10(7):
Somji S, Sudfeld CR, Duggan C, Manji K, Ahmed T, Chisti MJ, Dhingra U, Sazawal S, Singa B, Walson JL, Pavlinac PB, Bar-Zeev N, Houpt E, Dube Q, Kotloff KL, Sow SO, Yousafzai MT, Qamar FN, Bahl R, De Costa A, Simon JL, Ashorn P, ABCD Study Group

Aflatoxin exposure and mortality in acutely ill children: results from the CHAIN network cohort.
(2025 Jul 17)
BMJ Glob Health 10(7):
Xia L, Wu H, Saleem AF, Mupere E, Lancioni C, Diallo H, Potani I, Ali SA, Voskuijl W, Chisti MJ, Shahid ASMSB, Timbwa M, Mwaringa S, Tigoi C, Ngari M, Singa B, Tickell KD, Njunge J, Bandsma R, Ahmed T, Berkley J, Walson JL, Gong Y, Routledge MN

Global diversity of soil-transmitted helminths reveals population-biased genetic variation that impacts diagnostic targets.
(2025 Jul 10)
Nat Commun 16(1): 6374
Papaiakovou M, Waeschenbach A, Ajibola O, Ajjampur SS, Anderson RM, Bailey R, Benjamin-Chung J, Cambra-Pellejà M, Caro NR, Chaima D, Cimino RO, Cools P, Cossa A, Dunn J, Galagan S, Gandasegui J, Grau-Pujol B, Houlder EL, Ibikounlé M, Jenkins TP, Kalua K, Kjetland EF, Krolewiecki AJ, Levecke B, Luty AJ, MacDonald AS, Mandomando I, Manuel M, Martínez-Valladares M, Mejia R, Mekonnen Z, Messa A Jr, Mpairwe H, Muchisse O, Muñoz J, Mwinzi P, Novela V, Odiere MR, Sacoor C, Walson JL, Williams SA, Witek-McManus S, Littlewood DTJ, Cantacessi C, Doyle SR

Genomic characterization of multidrug-resistant Escherichia coli with PBP3 insertions carrying bla(NDM-5) carbapenemase isolated from infants in Kenya.
(2025 Jul 10)
Microbiol Resour Announc 14(7): e0012125
Kariuki K, Kigen C, Wachira J, Mogeni P, Rwigi D, Singa B, Tickell KD, Fang FC, Kariuki S, Walson JL, Pavlinac PB

Azithromycin treatment response as a probe to attribute bacterial etiologies of diarrhea using molecular diagnostics: a reanalysis of the Antibiotics for Children with Severe Diarrhea (ABCD) trial.
(2025)
Front Microbiol 16(): 1606207
Cornick J, Elwood S, Platts-Mills J, Pavlinac P, Manji KP, Sudfeld CR, Duggan CP, Dube Q, Bar-Zeev N, Kotloff K, Sow SO, Sazawal S, Singa B, Walson JL, Qamar FN, Ahmed T, De Costa A, Rogawski McQuade ET

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