Todd Swarthout is an infectious diseases epidemiologist. His research interests are in developing methods to evaluate vaccine impact and effectiveness, methods to optimise vaccine impact in reducing the burden of vaccine-preventable diseases, including among at-risk populations

Todd obtained his MSc (Public Health in Developing Countries, Emphasis: infectious diseases epidemiology) from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) in 2002. He obtained his PhD (work to optimise impact of the 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) in reducing carriage and disease in Malawi) from the University of Liverpool.

Todd worked for 10 years with Médecins sans Frontières (MSF, Artsen zonder Grenzen) and Médecins du Mond (MDM, Dokters van de Wereld), including extensive work as field epidemiologist in several subSaharan locations and as Senior Health Advisor and emergency/outbreak epidemiologist during headquarter postings in Paris and Amsterdam. Todd subsequently worked with Novartis Vaccines (later GlaxoSmithKline) in Amsterdam, leading the epidemiology portfolio in work to develop a GBS vaccine.

Prior to his joining the Julius Center, Todd lived with his family in Malawi (2015-2021), based at the Malawi-Liverpool-Wellcome Clinical Research Programme. As Senior Research Fellow with the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM) and the University College London (UCL), Todd developed and led the Pneumonia and Meningitis Pathogens Research Group, leading a portfolio of projects evaluating vaccine impact on duration of antibody immuity, carriage dynamics and disease incidence.

Prior to his 20+ years in infectious diseases epidemiology, Todd trained in the field of forestry and natural resource conservation. Todd lived in coastal northern California, teaching field biology at an independent secondary school and leading a number of local environmental campaigns. One of these led to the 1999 creation of the Headwaters State Forest Reserve along California’s Redwood Coast.