Brooke Nichols

About

Brooke Nichols, PhD, MSc, is an infectious disease mathematical modeller and health economist specializing in transmission dynamics, implementation modeling, and optimal resource allocation for pathogens including HIV, tuberculosis, SARS-CoV-2, and other pathogens of pandemic potential. Her work seeks to minimize the health and economic impact of infectious diseases through innovative quantitative approaches. Dr. Nichols leads a multi-continental research team of quantitative scientists and modellers who integrate insights from clinical science, epidemiology, health economics, and mathematical modeling to develop actionable, evidence-based strategies. Her team advances novel quantitative methods and adapts existing frameworks to design cost-effective, scalable interventions aimed at reducing transmission, morbidity, and mortality. Their work has significantly influenced national and global health policies across critical public health domains, including contributing to evidence and normative guidance on HIV prevention and care, informing global strategies for diagnostics during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, and guiding the development of WHO’s Target Product Profiles for diagnostics.

Research topics

• Medicine
• Biology
• Geography
• Virology
• Demography
• Family medicine
• Psychology
• Environmental health
• Medical physics

Selected publications

• Population density and basic reproductive number of COVID-19 across United States counties

  PLoS ONE · 2021 · 221 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding

  The basic reproductive number (R0) is a function of contact rates among individuals, transmission probability, and duration of infectiousness. We sought to determine the association between population density and R0 of SARS-CoV-2 across U.S. counties. We conducted a cross-sectional analysis using linear mixed models with random intercept and fixed slopes to assess the association of population density and R0, and controlled for state-level effects using random intercepts. We also assessed whethe…

  DOI

• Retention in care and viral suppression in differentiated service delivery models for HIV treatment delivery in sub‐Saharan Africa: a rapid systematic review

  Journal of the International AIDS Society · 2020 · 157 citations

  INTRODUCTION: Differentiated service delivery (DSD) models for antiretroviral treatment (ART) for HIV are being scaled up in the expectation that they will better meet the needs of patients, improve the quality and efficiency of treatment delivery and reduce costs while maintaining at least equivalent clinical outcomes. We reviewed the recent literature on DSD models to describe what is known about clinical outcomes. METHODS: We conducted a rapid systematic review of peer-reviewed publications i…

  DOI

• Rapid development of an online tracker to communicate the human impact of abruptly halting PEPFAR support

  Journal of the International AIDS Society · 2025-02-26 · 17 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  On 24 January 2025, the global HIV community was confronted with the abrupt announcement that the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), a programme with longstanding bipartisan support, would be paused for 90 days following an executive order to halt all foreign aid [1, 2]. For the over 20 million individuals worldwide receiving HIV treatment through PEPFAR-supported programmes, the potential consequences were severe and immediate. As the public health community sought mechan…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Using sputum and tongue swab specimens for in-home point-of-care targeted universal testing for tuberculosis of household contacts: an acceptability and feasibility analysis

  BMJ Global Health · 2025-08-01 · 8 citations

  articleOpen access

  INTRODUCTION: Effective strategies are essential for early tuberculosis (TB) detection. Reliance on passive case detection, symptom screening and collection of sputum results in delayed or undiagnosed TB, contributing to on-going TB transmission. This study assessed the acceptability of in-home targeted universal TB testing (TUTT) using GeneXpert MTB/RIF Ultra at point-of-care (POC) during household contact investigations (HCIs) and the feasibility of using sputum and tongue swab specimens. METH…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Integrated multi‐month dispensing for HIV and hypertension in South Africa: A model of epidemiological impact and cost‐effectiveness

  Journal of the International AIDS Society · 2025-02-01 · 5 citations

  articleOpen access

  INTRODUCTION: In the current era of universal antiretroviral treatment (ART), health systems have the dual challenge of a growing number of people living with HIV and on ART who are also receiving chronic, life-long treatment for non-communicable diseases. Current evidence suggests that 6-month multi-month dispensing (6MMD) can maintain at least equivalent clinical outcomes to conventional care and reduce costs, but little is known when integrating 6MMD for multiple conditions. We examined the c…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Gesine Meyer‐Rath

  Boston University

  153 shared

• Lise Jamieson

  University of the Witwatersrand

  145 shared

• Sydney Rosen

  Boston University

  127 shared

• Colin A. Russell

  University of Amsterdam

  121 shared

• Lawrence Long

  Boston University

  105 shared

• Sheetal Silal

  University of Cape Town

  89 shared

• Alvin X. Han

  University of Amsterdam

  82 shared

• Sarah Girdwood

  Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics

  75 shared

Education

• Ph.D., Viroscience

  Erasmus MC

  2015

• M.S., Epidemiology

  University of Massachusetts Amherst

  2010

• B.A., International Relations

  Mount Holyoke College

  2008

Similar researchers at Boston University

• Charles R Horsburghh-96
• Elaine O. Nsoesieh-55