Dr Eleanor MacPherson

Research Associate

Eleanor MacPherson holds a PhD in Gender and Public Health from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and a masters in Gender and Development from the Institute of Development Studies. She has worked in the field of gender and global health for the past decade and has developed and contributed to work on a wide range of areas including AMR, HIV, TB, gender based violence, neglected tropical diseases and structural interventions. 

Eleanor is a social scientist specializing in gender theory. She is based at the Malawi-Liverpool-Wellcome Trust in Blantyre, Malawi. Her work to date has focused on the ways the broader gendered social environment shapes vulnerability to infectious diseases and the ways people can respond in Southern and West Africa. 

She is part of a growing network of researchers around the globe undertaking social science research to address Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) by studying antimicrobials in society. She is leading three social science components of multidisciplinary projects on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR). This includes the FIEBRE study in Malawi, which is exploring fever and antimicrobial use in rural Malawi with comparative research sites in Zimbabwe and Myanmar. 

The DRUM study is a 3-year interdisciplinary research programme aiming to model the drivers of antimicrobial resistance in Malawi and Uganda. Her work is exploring antibiotic use amongst people living and working in urban and peri-urban Blantyre. In DRUM, she will be developing and overseeing social science research activities in Blantyre.

She is also leading work exploring antimicrobial use and hygiene practices at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in Blantyre Malawi. 

She is also leading the social science component of the MPATCHTB study. This work is exploring how to improve pathways to care for men with suspected TB. 

Selected publications

  • Kumwenda, M., Munthali, A., Phiri, M., Mwale, D., Gutteberg, T., MacPherson, E.E, Theobald, S., Corbett, L and Desmond, N. (2014). Factors shaping initial decision-making to self-test amongst cohabiting couples in urban Blantyre, Malawi. AIDS and behavior, 18(4), 396-404.

    MacPherson, E. E., Richards, E., Namakhoma, I., & Theobald, S. (2014). Gender equity and sexual and reproductive health in Eastern and Southern Africa: a critical overview of the literature. Global health action, 7.

    MacPherson P., MacPherson E.E., Mwale, D, Squire, B.S., Makombe, S.D., Corbett, E.L., Lalloo, D.G., Desmond, N,. (2012) “Barriers and facilitators to linkage to ART in primary care: a qualitative study of patients and providers in Blantyre, Malawi” Journal of the International AIDS Society, 15:18020.

    MacPherson E.E., Sadalaki, J., Njoloma, M., Nyongopa, V., Nkhwazi, L., Mwapasa, V. Lalloo, D.G., Desmond, N., Seeley, J., and Theobald, S. (2012) “Transactional sex and HIV: Understanding the gendered structural drivers of HIV in fishing communities in southern Malawi” Journal of the International AIDS Society, 15 (Suppl 1):17364

    Kim, J, MacPherson, E, Pronyk, P, Barnett, T, Watts, C, (2009) “Ford Foundation Global Review of Good Practices on the Intersections Between HIV/AIDS and Economic Empowerment” London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine MacPherson E, (2008) “Invisible Agents: Women in Service Delivery Reform” IDS Bulletin 38:6