Hilary Ranson is a Professor in the Department of Vector Biology and Pro-Vice Chancellor for Research Culture and Integrity at Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM). Following degrees from the University of York, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Cardiff University, she moved to the USA to undertake a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Notre Dame. Hilary first joined LSTM in 2001 as a Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Fellow and following a brief period at Imperial College London, returned to LSTM in 2007 and served as Head of the Department of Vector Biology from 2010-2019.

 

Hilary has supported the work of the World Health Organisation, serving as a technical advisor and member of the Vector Control Advisory Group (2017-2023), and the Product Development Partnership Innovative Vector Control Consortium as a member of the External Scientific Advisory Committee (2014-2018). She established a contract research team, LITE, to provide a professional service to screen new vector control products against insecticide resistant populations of mosquitoes. In 2022 LITE became a founding member of a new LSTM spinout, iiDiagnostics.

 

Having witnessed the pervasive inequities that impact career pathways in global health, Hilary pivoted to lead LSTM’s work to strengthen research culture and is motivated by supporting the careers of others, tackling power imbalances and ensuring fair recognition for the diverse contributions of all across the research ecosystem.

 

Hilary has broad research interests in the control of mosquito borne disease. Her early career focused on the molecular mechanisms of insecticide resistance in African malaria vectors. As resistance to the pyrethroid insecticides, used in insecticide treated nets, spread across the African continent she became increasingly interested in understanding the impact of this resistance on malaria transmission and evaluating tools to mitigate or slow the spread of resistance.

 

Hilary has led several interdisciplinary projects on malaria vector control, working with epidemiologists, health economists, clinicians, anthropologists, disease modellers, molecular biologists and entomologists, affording her a broad understanding of transdisciplinary working.

 

She has also led capacity strengthening projects, including the Partnership for Increasing the Impact of Vector Control which strengthened evidence generation and the use of this evidence in national policies, by investing in individual and institutional capacity strengthening and stakeholder engagement.

 

Hilary is currently leading a project to strengthen research management services across African partner organisations to promote a stronger and more equitable research ecosystem.