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Thomas  Clasen

Professor

Faculty, Environmental Health

Jointly Appointed, Epidemiology

Jointly Appointed, Global Health

Rose Salamone Gangarosa Chair in Sanitation and Safe Water

After practicing international corporate law for 20 years, I returned to school and obtained an MSc in control of infectious diseases and a PhD in environmental health from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.  I joined the faculty of the LSHTM in 2004, and became Professor of Water, Sanitation and Health. I moved to the Rollins School of Public Health in 2013 as Professor of Environmental Health and Rose Salamone Gangarosa Chair of Sanitation and Safe Water, and served as Interim Chair during the COVID months March-December 2020. I lead a group of researchers whose work consists mainly of health impact evaluations of water, sanitation and household air pollution interventions in low-income countries.  Publications include more than 15 RCTs in Latin America, Africa and South Asia; Cochrane reviews of water quality and sanitation interventions to prevent diarrhoeal disease and enteric infection; methods papers on improving the rigor of evalutating environmental health interventions; cost and cost-effectiveness analyses; and policy analyses of global environmental health initiatives.  Current field research includes an evaluation of a rural water and sanitation programmes in Orissa; a randomized controlled trial to assess the impact of a water and sanitation intervention among informal settlements in Fiji and Indonesia; an evaluation of a large-scale deployment of water filters as part of a national program in Rwanda; and the $32M HAPIN trial to assess the health effects of household air pollution in India, Rwanda, Guatemala and Peru.

Contact Information

CNR 2009, 1518 Clifton Road, NE

Atlanta , GA 30322

1518 Clifton Road, NE

Phone: 404-727-3480

Fax: 404-727-8744

Email: TCLASEN@emory.edu

URL:

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Areas of Interest

  • Air Pollution
  • Evaluation
  • Global Health
  • Health Outcomes
  • Infectious Disease
  • Safe Water, Sanitation and Hygiene

Education

  • JD 1981, Georgetown University Law Center
  • MSc 2002, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
  • PhD 2006, University of London

Courses Taught

  • EHS 799R: Dissertation Research
  • EH 571: GEH Policy:Power,Sci.&Justice
  • EH 549: Crit.Analys.WaterSanit.Hygiene

Publications