Lawrence C. Long

About

Lawrence C. Long is a Research Associate Professor at the Boston University School of Public Health, with a joint appointment at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. He is a health economist with over 18 years of experience conducting applied research on the economic impact of HIV, tuberculosis, and related conditions within South Africa and the region. Lawrence has extensive experience in organizational management, leadership, and grant management, having led a South African research group as deputy director. His training includes economics, finance, mathematics, research methodology, and behavioral science. He is the principal investigator of multiple research projects, including an NIH K01 award focused on using behavioral economics to improve the uptake and persistence of pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV prevention among men who have sex with men, and he is involved in a Gates-funded program to build behavioral economics capacity for HIV in South Africa. Lawrence has published widely in peer-reviewed journals and has contributed to research on HIV, TB, and health service delivery, emphasizing applied economic analysis and behavioral science approaches.

Research topics

• Family medicine
• Medicine
• Medical physics
• Pediatrics
• Physical therapy
• Surgery
• Internal medicine
• Psychology

Selected publications

• 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

  1st authorCorresponding

  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

• Multimonth dispensing of up to 6 months of antiretroviral therapy in Malawi and Zambia (INTERVAL): a cluster-randomised, non-blinded, non-inferiority trial

  The Lancet Global Health · 2021 · 79 citations

  BACKGROUND: Facility-based, multimonth dispensing of antiretroviral therapy (ART) for HIV could reduce burdens on patients and providers and improve retention in care. We assessed whether 6-monthly ART dispensing was non-inferior to standard of care and 3-monthly ART dispensing. METHODS: We did a pragmatic, cluster-randomised, unblinded, non-inferiority trial (INTERVAL) at 30 health facilities in Malawi and Zambia. Eligible participants were aged 18 years or older, HIV-positive, and were clinica…

  DOI

• Patient and provider costs of the new BPaL regimen for drug-resistant tuberculosis treatment in South Africa: A cost-effectiveness analysis

  PLoS ONE · 2024-10-21 · 11 citations

  articleOpen accessCorresponding

  BACKGROUND: Drug-resistant (DR) tuberculosis (TB) is typically characterized by resistance to a single or combination of first- and/or second-line anti-TB agents and commonly includes rifampicin-resistant (RR)-TB, multidrug-resistant (MDR)-TB, pre-extensively drug-resistant (pre-XDR)-TB and XDR-TB. Historically, all variations of DR-TB required treatment with second-line drugs which are less effective and more toxic than first-line options, have a longer treatment duration and are more expensive…

  PublisherDOI

• 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

• “Emotional stress is more detrimental than the virus itself”: A qualitative study to understand HIV testing and pre‐exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) use among internal migrant men in South Africa

  Journal of the International AIDS Society · 2024-03-01 · 8 citations

  articleOpen access

  INTRODUCTION: South Africa has one of the highest rates of internal migration on the continent, largely comprised of men seeking labour in urban centres. South African men who move within the country (internal migrants) are at higher risk than non-migrant men of acquiring HIV yet are less likely to test or use pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). However, little is known about the mechanisms that link internal migration and challenges engaging in HIV services. METHODS: We recruited 30 internal migra…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• Using behavioral economics to improve the uptake of and persistence on pre-exposure prophylaxis in men who have sex with men to prevent HIV infection

  NIH · $173k · 2020–2025

• Using behavioral economics to improve the uptake of and persistence on pre-exposure prophylaxis in men who have sex with men to prevent HIV infection

  NIH · $692k · 2020–2026

Frequent coauthors

• Sydney Rosen

  Boston University

  208 shared

• Matthew P. Fox

  University of the Witwatersrand

  194 shared

• Ian Sanne

  Advanced Biological Laboratories (Luxembourg)

  128 shared

• Brooke E. Nichols

  Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics

  105 shared

• Alana T. Brennan

  Africa Health Research Institute

  95 shared

• Denise Evans

  Office Of Health Economics

  65 shared

• Gesine Meyer‐Rath

  Boston University

  58 shared

• Mhairi Maskew

  University of the Witwatersrand

  47 shared

Education

• Doctorate of Philosophy

  University of the Witwatersrand

• Masters of Commerce, School of Economics and Business Science

  University of the Witwatersrand

• Bachelors of Business Science - Economics

  University of Cape Town

• Master of Science Behavioural Science, Psychology and Behavioural Science

  London School of Economics and Political Science

  2023

Awards & honors

• NIH K01 award

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• Elaine O. Nsoesieh-55