Donald Thea
Profiles

Donald M. Thea, MD, MSc

Professor, Global Health - Boston University School of Public Health

617-358-2295
dthea@bu.edu
Crosstown Center - 391
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Biography

Dr. Thea received his MD from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and a Masters of Science in tropical medicine from the London School of Hygiene and trained in infectious diseases in the Department of Geographic Medicine at New England Medical Center. He has pursued a full time career in both domestic and international clinical and epidemiological infectious disease research, primarily in issues related to child survival and in particular mother to child transmission of HIV/AIDS and pneumonia. Dr. Thea was an early member of Project SIDA (Kinshasa, Zaire), the first international clinical HIV/AIDS research field site, where he did work on the etiology of diarrhea in perinatally acquired HIV infection and was the director of the Clinical Research Unit. He pursued his interest in perinatal transmission of HIV as the Principal Investigator of the New York City Collaborative Perinatal HIV Transmission Study. In 1998 he then joined the Health and Social Development Unit of the Harvard Institute for International Development where he focused on international field research in Acute Respiratory Illness, Malaria and HIV.

Dr. Thea joined the Global Health department along with the other members of the Harvard team where he is currently a Professor of Global Health. Dr. Thea provides senior technical leadership of a portfolio of projects addressing community treatment of neonatal sepsis, management of acute respiratory illness in children, community and facilities-based management of acute malaria, presumptive prophylaxis of malaria in pregnancy, social and behavioral aspects of HIV transmission and child sexual abuse. Dr. Thea has been the Principal Investigator of several large studies and program implementation projects including a prospective cohort study of postnatal HIV through breastmilk (the Zambia Exclusive Breastfeeding Study), the Zambia Boston University Malaria Project (ZAMBUMP), the Boston University PMTCT Integration Projects (BUPIP) – Southern Province Zambia. He is the Zambia Site PI for the Bill and Melinda Gates funded Pneumonia Etiology Research in Child Health (PERCH) through a subcontract with Johns Hopkins University.

Most recently, in 2018 Dr. Thea was awarded a 5-year R01 grant from NICHD (Zambia Infant Cohort Study - ZICS) to study the causes and risk factors for increased morbidity and mortality seen among children who are born to HIV-infected mothers but escaped infection themselves. These HIV-exposed but uninfected children are now estimated to number 14.8 million, worldwide and growing.

Along with Professors Gill and Fox, Dr. Thea have a bi-weekly podcast, Free Associations, which critically reviews the merit and rigor of recent scientific publications that have been noted in the popular press.

Other Positions

  • Director, Center for Global Health & Development - Boston University School of Public Health
  • Member, Evans Center for Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research - Boston University

Education

  • Columbia University, MD Field of Study: Medicine
  • University of London, MSc Field of Study: Tropical Medicine
  • Antioch College, BS

Websites

Classes Taught

  • SPHGH805

Publications

  • Published on 2/16/2023

    Hooli S, King C, McCollum ED, Colbourn T, Lufesi N, Mwansambo C, Gregory CJ, Thamthitiwat S, Cutland C, Madhi SA, Nunes MC, Gessner BD, Hazir T, Mathew JL, Addo-Yobo E, Chisaka N, Hassan M, Hibberd PL, Jeena P, Lozano JM, MacLeod WB, Patel A, Thea DM, Nguyen NTV, Zaman SM, Ruvinsky RO, Lucero M, Kartasasmita CB, Turner C, Asghar R, Banajeh S, Iqbal I, Maulen-Radovan I, Mino-Leon G, Saha SK, Santosham M, Singhi S, Awasthi S, Bavdekar A, Chou M, Nymadawa P, Pape JW, Paranhos-Baccala G, Picot VS, Rakoto-Andrianarivelo M, Rouzier V, Russomando G, Sylla M, Vanhems P, Wang J, Basnet S, Strand TA, Neuman MI, Arroyo LM, Echavarria M, Bhatnagar S, Wadhwa N, Lodha R, Aneja S, Gentile A, Chadha M, Hirve S, O'Grady KF, Clara AW, Rees CA, Campbell H, Nair H, Falconer J, Williams LJ, Horne M, Qazi SA, Nisar YB. In-hospital mortality risk stratification in children aged under 5 years with pneumonia with or without pulse oximetry: A secondary analysis of the Pneumonia REsearch Partnership to Assess WHO REcommendations (PREPARE) dataset. Int J Infect Dis. 2023 Apr; 129:240-250. PMID: 36805325.

     Read At: PubMed
  • Published on 12/29/2022

    Martin H, Falconer J, Addo-Yobo E, Aneja S, Arroyo LM, Asghar R, Awasthi S, Banajeh S, Bari A, Basnet S, Bavdekar A, Bhandari N, Bhatnagar S, Bhutta ZA, Brooks A, Chadha M, Chisaka N, Chou M, Clara AW, Colbourn T, Cutland C, D'Acremont V, Echavarria M, Gentile A, Gessner B, Gregory CJ, Hazir T, Hibberd PL, Hirve S, Hooli S, Iqbal I, Jeena P, Kartasasmita CB, King C, Libster R, Lodha R, Lozano JM, Lucero M, Lufesi N, MacLeod WB, Madhi SA, Mathew JL, Maulen-Radovan I, McCollum ED, Mino G, Mwansambo C, Neuman MI, Nguyen NTV, Nunes MC, Nymadawa P, O'Grady KF, Pape JW, Paranhos-Baccala G, Patel A, Picot VS, Rakoto-Andrianarivelo M, Rasmussen Z, Rouzier V, Russomando G, Ruvinsky RO, Sadruddin S, Saha SK, Santosham M, Singhi S, Soofi S, Strand TA, Sylla M, Thamthitiwat S, Thea DM, Turner C, Vanhems P, Wadhwa N, Wang J, Zaman SM, Campbell H, Nair H, Qazi SA, Nisar YB. Assembling a global database of child pneumonia studies to inform WHO pneumonia management algorithm: Methodology and applications. J Glob Health. 2022 Dec 29; 12:04075. PMID: 36579417.

     Read At: PubMed
  • Published on 12/22/2022

    Pascoe S, Fox M, Kane J, Mngadi S, Manganye P, Long LC, Metz K, Allen T, Sardana S, Greener R, Zheng A, Thea DM, Murray LK. Study protocol: A randomised trial of the effectiveness of the Common Elements Treatment Approach (CETA) for improving HIV treatment outcomes among women experiencing intimate partner violence in South Africa. BMJ Open. 2022 Dec 22; 12(12):e065848. PMID: 36549749.

     Read At: PubMed
  • Published on 12/6/2022

    Gill CJ, Mwananyanda L, MacLeod WB, Kwenda G, Pieciak RC, Etter L, Bridges D, Chikoti C, Chirwa S, Chimoga C, Forman L, Katowa B, Lapidot R, Lungu J, Matoba J, Mwinga G, Mubemba B, Mupila Z, Muleya W, Mwenda M, Ngoma B, Nakazwe R, Nzara D, Pawlak N, Pemba L, Saasa N, Simulundu E, Yankonde B, Thea DM. What is the prevalence of COVID-19 detection by PCR among deceased individuals in Lusaka, Zambia? A postmortem surveillance study. BMJ Open. 2022 Dec 06; 12(12):e066763. PMID: 36600354.

     Read At: PubMed
  • Published on 9/15/2022

    Nawa M, Mwansa J, Mwaba J, Kaonga P, Mukubesa AN, Simuyandi M, Chisenga CC, Alabi P, Mwananyanda L, Thea DM, Chilengi R, Kwenda G. Microbiologic and virulence characteristics of Moraxella catarrhalis isolates from Zambian children presenting with acute pneumonia. Pediatr Pulmonol. 2022 Dec; 57(12):3084-3093. PMID: 36056795.

     Read At: PubMed
  • Published on 9/8/2022

    Solomon H, Thea DM, Galea S, Sabin LL, Lucey DR, Hamer DH. Adherence to and enforcement of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) for COVID-19 prevention in Nigeria, Rwanda, and Zambia: A mixed-methods analysis. PLOS Glob Public Health. 2022; 2(9):e0000389. PMID: 36962721.

     Read At: PubMed
  • Published on 9/8/2022

    Solomon H, Thea DM, Galea S, Sabin LL, Lucey DR, Hamer DH. Adherence to and enforcement of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) for COVID-19 prevention in Nigeria, Rwanda, and Zambia: A mixed-methods analysis. PLOS Glob Public Health. 2022; 2(9):e0000389. PMID: 36962721.

     Read At: PubMed
  • Published on 5/1/2022

    Park DE, Watson NL, Focht C, Feikin D, Hammit L, Brooks WA, Howie SRC, Kotloff KL, Levine OS, Madhi SA, Murdoch DR, O'Brien KL, Scott JAG, Thea DM, Amorninthapichet T, Awori J, Bunthi C, Ebruke B, Elhilali M, Higdon M, Hossain L, Jahan Y, Moore DP, Mulindwa J, Mwananyanda L, Naorat S, Prosperi C, Thamthitiwat S, Verwey C, Jablonski KA, Power MC, Young HA, Deloria Knoll M, McCollum ED. Digitally recorded and remotely classified lung auscultation compared with conventional stethoscope classifications among children aged 1-59 months enrolled in the Pneumonia Etiology Research for Child Health (PERCH) case-control study. BMJ Open Respir Res. 2022 May; 9(1). PMID: 35577452.

     Read At: PubMed
  • Published on 4/1/2022

    Lohman-Payne B, Koster J, Gabriel B, Chilengi R, Forman LS, Heeren T, Duffy CR, Herlihy J, Crimaldi S, Gill C, Chavuma R, Mwananyanda L, Thea DM. Persistent Immune Activation in Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Infected Pregnant Women Starting Combination Antiretroviral Therapy After Conception. J Infect Dis. 2022 Apr 01; 225(7):1162-1167. PMID: 33780543.

     Read At: PubMed
  • Published on 4/1/2022

    Rees CA, Colbourn T, Hooli S, King C, Lufesi N, McCollum ED, Mwansambo C, Cutland C, Madhi SA, Nunes M, Matthew JL, Addo-Yobo E, Chisaka N, Hassan M, Hibberd PL, Jeena PM, Lozano JM, MacLeod WB, Patel A, Thea DM, Nguyen NTV, Kartasasmita CB, Lucero M, Awasthi S, Bavdekar A, Chou M, Nymadawa P, Pape JW, Paranhos-Baccala G, Picot VS, Rakoto-Andrianarivelo M, Rouzier V, Russomando G, Sylla M, Vanhems P, Wang J, Asghar R, Banajeh S, Iqbal I, Maulen-Radovan I, Mino-Leon G, Saha SK, Santosham M, Singhi S, Basnet S, Strand TA, Bhatnagar S, Wadhwa N, Lodha R, Aneja S, Clara AW, Campbell H, Nair H, Falconer J, Qazi SA, Nisar YB, Neuman MI. Derivation and validation of a novel risk assessment tool to identify children aged 2-59 months at risk of hospitalised pneumonia-related mortality in 20 countries. BMJ Glob Health. 2022 Apr; 7(4). PMID: 35428680.

     Read At: PubMed

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