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)

Impact of HIV exposure without infection on hospital course and mortality among young children in sub-Saharan Africa: a multi-site cohort study.
(2024 Dec 3)
BMC Med 22(1): 573
Lwanga C, Aber P, Tickell KD, Ngari MM, Mukisa J, Atuhairwe M, Brown L, Mupere E, Potani I, Shahrin L, Morgan B, Singa BO, Nankabirwa V, Mugambe RK, Mukasa Z, Walson JL, Berkley JA, Lancioni CL

Cohort profile: the WHO Child Mortality Risk Stratification Multi-Country Pooled Cohort (WHO-CMRS) to identify predictors of mortality through early childhood.
(2024 Nov 28)
BMJ Open 14(11): e085164
Schwinger C, Kaldenbach S, Berkley JA, Walson JL, Argaw A, Chowdhury R, Strand TA, Rollins N, WHO Risk Stratification Working Group (WHO-RSWG)

Systemic biological mechanisms underpin poor post-discharge growth among severely wasted children with HIV.
(2024 Nov 27)
Nat Commun 15(1): 10299
Mudibo EO, Bogaert J, Tigoi C, Ngari MM, Singa BO, Lancioni CL, Diallo AH, Mbale E, Mupere E, Mukisa J, Thitiri J, Timbwa M, Omer E, Ngao N, Musyimi R, Kahindi E, Bamouni RM, Bandsma RHJ, Kelly P, Prendergast AJ, McGrath CJ, Tickell KD, Walson JL, Berkley JA, Njunge JM, Gonzales GB

Immunogenicity of a booster dose of a bivalent (Asp614Gly and omicron BA.4/5 variant) self-amplifying mRNA SARS-CoV-2 booster vaccine versus the BNT162b2 omicron BA.4/5 mRNA vaccine: a randomised phase 3 trial.
(2024 Oct 23)
Lancet Infect Dis
Okada Y, Kumagai Y, Okura I, Otsuki M, Ishida N, Iwama Y, Minamida T, Yagi Y, Kurosawa T, van Boxmeer J, Zhang Y, Smolenov I, Walson JL

Inpatient and postdischarge mortality among children with anaemia and malaria parasitaemia in Kenya: a cohort study.
(2024 Oct 21)
BMJ Glob Health 9(10):
Ngari M, Mwangome M, Ouma N, Nyaguara A, Mturi N, Obiero C, Kamau A, Walson JL, Iversen PO, Maitland K, Snow RW, Berkley J

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