In this lecture I explore biographical threads that reveal common themes and methods from 25 years of research into the epidemiology and control of sexually transmitted infections and HIV, preventive interventions and patient experience. I aim to show how these relate to the challenge of understanding complex determinants, such as social class and gender, which shape the risks of disease, the role of healthcare, and the content and conduct of medical research.

I will argue that such factors cannot be studied using reductive methods alone but require an integrative approach that revives the place of the polymath in public health research and education.

‘Hustling for health’ refers to sex workers who apply skills developed through soliciting business in hostile environments to the struggle to access rights and healthcare. It also refers to a public health doctor using the skills she developed in medicine and political activism to raise money for preventative programmes in an Academic Health Science Centre, introduce radical educational programmes and smuggle more social science into a staunchly biomedical university.

Biography

Helen Ward trained in medicine at Sheffield University, has an MSc in epidemiology from the LSHTM, a PhD from City University, and is on the specialist registers for public health and genitourinary medicine.

Her major research interests are the epidemiology and control of STI and HIV, with a focus on sex work, sexual networks, outbreak investigation and the evaluation of control programmes. She was the public health expert on the Independent Advisory Group on Sexual Health and HIV, and chaired a European Centre for Disease Control and Prevention group that produced guidance on chlamydia control in Europe. She was editor of the journal Sexually Transmitted Infections from 2002-09.

As a consultant in the Clinical Programme in Interventional Public Health, Helen has led the development of preventive interventions in the Imperial NHS Trust, and established the new Imperial Centre for Patient Experience Research, which explores methods for improving the quality and experience of care.

Helen was recently appointed Director of Education for the School of Public Health and oversees a substantial programme of undergraduate, postgraduate and research training in public health. She is also co-director of a new BSc in Global Health.