Laura Ferguson, PhD
Associate Professor of Population and Public Health Sciences
Health Equity Interests
I seek to understand and address large-scale factors that make it harder for some people to enjoy good health than others.
Biography
Laura Ferguson is an Associate Professor in the Department of Population and Public Health Sciences. She is the Director of Research for the Institute on Inequalities in Global Health and Director of the Program on Global Health & Human Rights at the Keck School of Medicine. She is also on the faculty of USC Dornsife's Spatial Sciences Institute. Dr. Ferguson earned her MSc in Population and International Health from the Harvard School of Public Health and her PhD from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Her work focuses on understanding and addressing health system and societal factors affecting health, and developing the evidence base of how attention to human rights can improve health outcomes.
Dr. Ferguson has spent extended periods of time in low-income countries, primarily in sub-Saharan Africa, collaborating with local partners to design and manage research and programs to tackle a broad range of issues including HIV/AIDS, sexual and reproductive health, and child health.
Dr. Ferguson serves on a range of expert advisory groups to the World Health Organization and UNAIDS. She is also an Associate Editor for Reproductive Health Matters.
Research Interests
- Health Services
- Disparities
- Community
- Health Policy
- Social Determinants of Health
- Vulnerable Populations
- Global Health
- Legal Environment
- Sexual and Reproductive Health
- HIV/AIDS
- COVID-19
- Community Health
- Health Promotion
- Health Care Systems
- Structural Factors
Publications
Measuring Geographic Access to Transgender Hormone Therapy in Texas: A Three-step Floating Catchment Area Analysis.
Spat Spatiotemporal Epidemiol. 2023 Jun;45:100585. doi: 10.1016/j.sste.2023.100585. Epub 2023 Apr 8. PubMed PMID: 37301600;
Systematic review and quantitative and qualitative comparative analysis of interventions to address HIV-related stigma and discrimination.
AIDS. 2023 Jun 20;. doi: 10.1097/QAD.0000000000003628. Epub 2023 Jun 20. PubMed PMID: 37352492;
A review of place-related contextual factors in syndemics research.
Health Place. 2023 Jul 10;83:103084. doi: 10.1016/j.healthplace.2023.103084. Epub 2023 Jul 10. PubMed PMID: 37437495;
"I Can't Take This Shitty Quarantine Anymore": Sexual Behavior and PrEP Use Among Young Men Who Have Sex with Men and Transgender Women in Brazil During the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Arch Sex Behav. 2023 Feb;52(2):689-702. doi: 10.1007/s10508-022-02364-x. Epub 2022 Jul 26. PubMed PMID: 35881251; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC9321283.
Health Justice in the Context of Health and Human Rights.
Am J Public Health. 2023 Feb;113(2):182-184. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2022.307184. PubMed PMID: 36652651; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC9850618.
Courses Taught
- Introduction to Global Health
- Global Health Research and Programs
- Global Health Governance and Diplomacy in Practice in Geneva