Nadine Beckmann

Nadine Beckmann is an Associate Professor in Social Science at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), Faculty of Public Health and Policy, Department of Global Health and Development. She serves as senior social scientist for the UK Public Health Rapid Support Team (UK-PHRST), a collaboration between LSHTM and UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), focusing on epidemic preparedness and response. Her academic journey includes previous appointments as Senior Lecturer in Social Anthropology at University of Roehampton, John Fell Research Fellow at University of Oxford, and Lecturer in International Development at University of Leeds.

Her research integrates social science perspectives into public health interventions, with extensive fieldwork in Tanzania, Zimbabwe, South Sudan, and Malawi. Key areas include epidemic outbreak response, HIV/AIDS, cholera, Islamic bioethics, reproductive health, and gender studies. She specializes in East African Muslim populations and conducts operational research during outbreaks including rapid ethnographic appraisals and community engagement analysis.

Recent publications (2021-2025) reveal strong focus on infodemics, vaccine confidence, cholera response, and HIV testing accuracy. Her work demonstrates consistent integration of anthropological methods into outbreak response, with increasing emphasis on digital health communication and community feedback systems. Notable projects include the Staying Alive project in Zimbabwe, Integrating Social Science into Africa CDC, and Rift Valley Fever research in Uganda.

• Vice Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching (2019)

Beckmann actively supervises PhD students and serves as departmental research degree convenor. She leads the UK-PHRST social science portfolio and has deployed for cholera responses in Malawi and Zambia. Her grant portfolio includes the 9-year UK-PHRST project (NIHR-funded) supporting outbreak response in LMICs. She contributes to WHO guidelines and serves on committees including WHO GOARN Research TWG and Social Science in Humanitarian Action Platform.

Her laboratory work centers on rapid ethnographic assessment during outbreaks, with recent deployments supporting cholera responses in Malawi and Zambia. She leads the Staying Alive project investigating survival strategies in Zimbabwe's overlapping crises, and develops social science research strategies for epidemic response through UK-PHRST.