Sarah Rafferty

Sarah was elected as RSTMH’s first Early Careers Trustee in September 2018 and has been Vice President since September 2022.

Sarah currently works for the UK Office for National Statistics in the Health and International Directorate. Her role as the International Stakeholder Engagement Lead on the Wellcome-funded project – the Pandemic Preparedness Toolkit – involves coordinating partnerships with colleagues in Argentina, Malawi and Nepal. Through these partnerships, the project aims to co-create a toolkit specifically designed for National Statistical Offices to advise on, and conduct, trusted infectious disease surveillance and work effectively with public health offices to implement evidence-based policies.

Sarah has a PhD from the Geography Department at the University of Cambridge. Her thesis was titled ‘New methods to answer old questions: a study of London infant and child mortality at the turn of the twentieth century’, exploring historical health inequalities in an urban context. While undertaking her PhD, Sarah also assisted on a research project into the historical demography of Tanzania with colleagues at LSHTM.

Prior to her doctoral studies, she completed an MSc in Demography & Health at LSHTM, during which time she volunteered at RSTMH, undertaking an archiving project and helping with small grants.

Sarah plays an active role in the Meetings & Events, Education & Training, and Policy & Advocacy Committees at RSTMH and strives to represent the opinions of researchers in their early careers on the Board.