Dr Joseph Donovan

Contact information

Research groups

OUCRU Oxford University Clinical Research Unit

Joseph Donovan

Senior Clinical Research Fellow

Dr Joseph Donovan is a clinical research physician based at OUCRU in Ho Chi Minh City. His primary research interest is in infectious diseases of the brain, particularly tuberculous meningitis.

Joseph is a Consultant in Infectious Diseases and General Internal Medicine (UK), and trained at centers including Imperial College London, University College London Hospitals NHS Trust, and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Joseph worked at OUCRU from 2017-2020 where he completed his PhD, and rejoined in 2025.

Meningitis and encephalitis lead to high rates of death and severe disability. Joseph is seeking new strategies to manage tuberculous meningitis, in addition to setting-appropriate techniques to optimize detection of critical illness, with the ultimate goal of improving patient outcomes from severe brain infection.

Key publications

Seasonal dynamics and control of malaria: A non-autonomous model incorporating vaccination and drug resistance

Onah IS., (2026), Nonlinear Analysis: Real World Applications, 91, 104584 - 104584

Perceptions of death, dying and the body in Vietnamese culture: A qualitative exploration from a study examining the potentials of minimally invasive tissue sampling in Vietnam

Doan NP. et al, (2026), SSM - Qualitative Research in Health, 9, 100714 - 100714

Ensuring vaccine cold chain integrity: A rapid and low-cost test for identifying heat-exposed sucrose-containing vaccines

Arman BY. et al, (2026), International Journal of Pharmaceutics: X, 11, 100467 - 100467

Advancing the concept of community positive health through participatory research in marginalized communities in Kenya

Peters LER. et al, (2026), Social Science & Medicine, 398, 119147 - 119147

Rickettsial seropositivity in Lao PDR smallholder livestock farms: Implications for animal and human health.

Tawfik C. et al, (2026), One health (Amsterdam, Netherlands), 22

Modelling seizure-related predictors of epilepsy diagnostic gap in two urban informal settlements of Nairobi using machine learning.

Mwanga D. et al, (2026), Global epidemiology, 11

The normalisation of under-resourcing limits the potential for improvement of critical care: evidence from a multi-method study of Kenyan hospitals

McKnight J. et al, (2026), Social Science & Medicine, 396, 118843 - 118843

The epidemiological effect and cost-effectiveness of expanded age eligibility for recombinant zoster vaccination in England

Ku C-C. et al, (2026), Vaccine, 78, 128405 - 128405

Age distribution of respiratory syncytial virus disease in children younger than 5 years in low-income and middle-income countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Mahmud S. et al, (2026), The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health, 10, 245 - 254

Prospects and perils of antimicrobial resistance cluster detection using routinely collected data: an illustration from tertiary hospitals in Thailand representing different data contexts

Rangsiwutisak C. et al, (2026), Journal of Hospital Infection, 170, 48 - 59

Chronic Malaria Is Associated With Trauma-related Splenic Rupture Requiring Splenectomy

Shanti PAI. et al, (2026), The Journal of Infectious Diseases, 233, e740 - e744

Assessing the innovation competency and entrepreneurial capacity of health students in Vietnam: a cross-sectional study

Le ANT. et al, (2026), BMC Medical Education

Clean Dataset for Predictors of In-Hospital Mortality Among Paediatric Snakebite Patients in Northeastern Nigeria: A Survival Analysis Study

Hamman NA. et al, (2026)

Biosafety and biosecurity for Burkholderia pseudomallei and Burkholderia mallei : evidence, gaps, and sustainable practice in endemic, low-resource settings

Blacksell SD. et al, (2026), Clinical Microbiology Reviews

Validation of the International League Against Epilepsy ( ILAE ) Risk of Bias Tool against the Newcastle–Ottawa Scale in epilepsy research

Kwon C. et al, (2026), Epilepsia

Estimating the changing prevalence of molecular markers of artemisinin partial resistance in Plasmodium falciparum malaria in Sub-Saharan Africa

Harrison LE. et al, (2026)

Determinants of mortality following snakebite envenomation: a matched case–control study in northeastern Nigeria

Hamman NA. et al, (2026), Transactions of The Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 120, 277 - 289

Longitudinal Epidemiology and Variant Dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 in Coastal Kenya (2020–2025): Clinical Features and Wave Patterns

Lambisia AW. et al, (2026), Open Forum Infectious Diseases, 13

Parasitological efficacy of seasonal malaria chemoprevention in Nampula, northern Mozambique

Bonnington C. et al, (2026), Transactions of The Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 120, 258 - 267

Nasopharyngeal Microbiome Composition and its Clinical Correlates in Children Hospitalized with Severe Pneumonia in East Africa.

Makori TO. et al, (2026), J Infect Dis

Burden of chronic respiratory disease in Asia, 1990–2023: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2023

Jo H. et al, (2026), The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, 14, 233 - 255

Impact of an electronic clinical decision support algorithm (eCDSA) on antibiotic prescribing in primary care in Cambodia: A cluster randomised controlled trial

Wynberg E. et al, (2026), International Journal of Infectious Diseases, 164, 108382 - 108382

(Un)intended consequences: a social sciences stocktake of a decade of Global Action Plan-inspired antimicrobial governance

Kirchhelle C. et al, (2026), The Lancet Microbe, 7, 101315 - 101315

Addressing pandemic-wide systematic errors in the SARS-CoV-2 phylogeny

Hunt M. et al, (2026), Nature Methods, 23, 653 - 662

Modeling the transmission dynamics and control strategies during the 2017 diphtheria outbreak in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Djaafara BA. et al, (2026), Infectious Disease Modelling, 11, 1 - 15

The age-specific concentrations and seroprevalence of antibodies against Salmonella Enteritidis (O:9) and Salmonella Typhimurium (O:4,5) across three sites in Kenya.

Muthumbi EM. et al, (2026), The Journal of infectious diseases

Evaluation of the Bangkok Health Research and Ethics Interest Group: reflecting on the experiences of group members, researchers and facilitators participating in an urban community advisory board in Thailand.

Osterrieder A. et al, (2026), Research involvement and engagement, 12

Applying WHO Prioritization Criteria for Moderate Wasting: Programmatic Implications.

Potani I. et al, (2026), Maternal & child nutrition, 22

Leptospirosis Incidence at Four Sites in Sub-Saharan Africa and South East Asia: An International Multi-Site Hybrid Surveillance Study.

Crump JA. et al, (2026), Open forum infectious diseases, 13

Exploring layers of vulnerability during COVID-19: qualitative research with communities in Indonesia, Nepal, and Vietnam.

Tran TP. et al, (2026), BMC medical ethics

Assessment of antibody responses to Anopheles SG6-P1 and Aedes N-term 34 kDa salivary peptides: a randomised human-challenge trial of controlled exposures to vector bites.

Chaumeau V. et al, (2026), BMC medicine

Impact of switching from manual to automated aerobic blood culture on bacteremia diagnosis in Lao PDR.

Jaksuwan R. et al, (2026), Microbiology spectrum

Comparison of CD4 T cell response in Plasmodium falciparum and vivax malaria

Nalubega M. et al, (2026), The Journal of Infectious Diseases

Family Member and Healthcare Provider Perceptions of Factors Influencing Undernutrition Among Infants and Young Children in South Asia: A Systematic Review of Qualitative Studies

Uddin MF. et al, (2026), Nutrients, 18, 776 - 776

Uptake of Continuous Positive Airway Pressure and outcomes among newborns admitted in three county hospitals in Nairobi, Kenya

Musigula R. et al, (2026), Wellcome Open Research, 10, 324 - 324

The Feasibility of Integrating Digital Technology into Community Engagement for Routine Immunization in Kano State, Nigeria.

Ahmed K.U Nagogo A. et al, (2026)

Caregiver assessment of executive function deficits among HIV-infected and HIV-exposed uninfected preschool children in Kenya

Sigilai AK. et al, (2026), Frontiers in Pediatrics, 14

Acrobatics for Antibiotics: Exploring circus-based engagement on community practices surrounding antimicrobial resistance in Cambodia

Wijntuin R. et al, (2026), Wellcome Open Research, 11, 104 - 104

Specific Biomarkers Differentiate Cerebral Malaria From Other Causes of Coma in African Children

Mwangi S. et al, (2026), The Journal of Infectious Diseases

Transplacental Transfer of Lumefantrine, Mefloquine, and Piperaquine: A Comparison of Concentrations in Mothers, Neonates, and Cord Blood

Saito M. et al, (2026), Clinical Infectious Diseases, 82, e165 - e173

Pharmacometric evaluation of pre-referral rectal artesunate in children with severe malaria

Adehin A. et al, (2026)

Estimating enteric fever seroincidence in rural western Cambodia: findings from a population-based cross-sectional serosurvey

Zhang M. et al, (2026)

Pharmacokinetics and safety of fosfomycin and flomoxef administered as part of neonatal sepsis treatment (NeoSep1 Part 1)

Bekker A. et al, (2026), Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, 70

Rapid diagnosis of skin and soft tissue melioidosis in children

Suy K. et al, (2026), PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 20, e0013962 - e0013962

Cross- Wellcome Africa Asian Programmes (AAPs) Acceleration of Genomics for Escalating infectious Diseases, (CAGED) Consortium

Kiyuka PK. et al, (2026), Wellcome Open Research, 11, 87 - 87

Effectiveness of stigma reduction interventions and outbreak response adaptations in infectious disease outbreaks: a systematic review

Paterson A. et al, (2026), Frontiers in Public Health, 14

Time for change in implementation research and practice

English M. et al, (2026), BMC Medicine, 24

Epidemiological Shifts in Visceral Leishmaniasis Incidence, Relapse, and Mortality in Brazil, 2007–2023: Analysis Using the National Notifiable Diseases Information System

Assefa DG. et al, (2026), Open Forum Infectious Diseases, 13

Recent publications

A clinical practice guideline for tuberculous meningitis.

Donovan J. et al, (2026), The Lancet. Infectious diseases, 26, e96 - e111

Genotype-stratified adjunctive dexamethasone for tuberculous meningitis in HIV-negative adults: a randomized controlled phase 3 trial

Donovan J. et al, (2026), Nature Medicine

Integrating metagenomic sequencing into diagnostic pathways for tuberculous meningitis - Authors' reply.

Donovan J. et al, (2025), The Lancet. Infectious diseases, 25

Pre-treatment untargeted cerebrospinal fluid metabolomic profiling in tuberculous meningitis uncovers pathways associated with mortality.

Le THN. et al, (2025), Med (New York, N.Y.), 6

Statistical analysis plan for the LAST ACT clinical trial; a Leukotriene A4 hydrolase Stratified non-inferiority Trial of Adjunctive Corticosteroids for HIV-negative adults with Tuberculous meningitis

Donovan J. et al, (2025), Wellcome Open Research, 9, 695 - 695

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