Lucas obtained his BSc at the University of Wales Aberystwyth which was then followed by two years working and volunteering at the London Natural History Museum’s parasitic worms department. He then studied for his MSc, in medical parasitology, at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, graduating in 2012.
His MSc project focused on the prevalence of schistosomiasis and STH in school children from the town of Wad Madani in Northern Sudan. Following from the completion of my MSc Lucas started his PhD at the Natural Resources Institute and later transferred to the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine in 2013 to continue his studies. In November 2015 Lucas joined the CouNTDown consortium as a part-time research assistant whilst completing his PhD thesis.
Research
PhD Thesis: The Identification and Control of Trypanosoma brucei s.l. in the vector and non-human host populations of N.W. Uganda
My PhD thesis aims to assess the applicability of different technologies for the identification of T. brucei s.l. in the vector population as well as assessing the impact of the tiny target vector control technology on the transmission of trypanosomes in the local cattle population.
RA work with CouNTDown: ICST 2 – Access to mass drug administration, community led total sanitation and diagnostics
The work I carry out for CouNTDown concentrates on the development and implementation of molecular diagnostic techniques in in-country settings with a focus on capacity building and strengthening.
Teaching Experience
Laboratory Demonstrator (2013-2016)
Lectured on the DTM&H course (2014-2015)
Capacity Building qPCR workshop in Ghana (2016)
Student mentorship I have co-supervised five MSc students from 2015-2016 and I am currently supervising a BSc student from the Tropical Disease and Biology course at Liverpool University.
Public Speaking
BSP Spring meeting- 2016
BSP Spring meeting- 2015
Liverpool NTD conference- 2014
All Party Parliamentary Meeting for Malaria and NTDs- 2014
RES Northern meeting- 2013