Health of older people in sub-Saharan Africa Physical activity, nutrition and health

Margaret Thorogood was appointed Professor of Epidemiology at the University of Warwick in March 2003 and in June 2007 she was appointed as an Honorary Professor at the University of the Witwatersrand. Margaret started her career as a social scientist but chose to specialise in epidemiology. Following her PhD on the safety of oral contraceptives she was involved in a series of further studies of hormonal contraceptive safety. From those experiences she became interested in how academic research influences policy. At the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine she headed the Health Gain Project which aimed to bridge the gap between policy makers and academics by providing policy relevant research findings in the area of cardiovascular disease. More recently she has headed the Southern Africa Stroke Prevention Initiative which aimed to address the emerging burden of stroke and other cardiovascular disease in rural sub-Saharan Africa. From that work, she has expanded her interest to all aspects of the health of older people in rural sub-Saharan Africa. She is also an active participant in the Consortium for Advanced Research Training in Africa (CARTA) which aims to build capacity in African based public health research. The University of Warwick is one of the Northern universities participating in this initiative. She is Chair of the NHS HTA Disease Prevention Panel. Now working part-time in retirement, her main research activity is a MRC-funded trial of a primary care based intervention to improve the detection and management of hypertension in rural South Africa. Her other research interests include a UK-based trial of a family-based treatment for childhood obesity (Families for Health) and a trial of a physical activity intervention for people with mild dementia (DAPA).