Dr Sarah Burr

Sarah Burr is currently based at the College of Medicine, University of Malawi, where she is an Honorary Senior Lecturer in the Microbiology Department.

She is the laboratory scientist for the MORDOR trial (Mortality reduction after oral azithromycin), which is evaluating the effect of mass drug administration with the broad-spectrum antibiotic azithromycin on childhood mortality and morbidity in three sites in sub-Saharan Africa. LSHTM is involved in the MORDOR trial in Malawi, where we are evaluating azithromycin's effect on under-5 mortality, trachoma, malaria, carriage of respiratory and diarrheal pathogens, macrolide resistance, intestinal inflammation, the gastrointestinal microbiome and growth.

The MORDOR trial is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and is a collaborative project between LHSTM, UCSF and JHP. In Malawi, the MORDOR trial works in partnership with the College of Medicine, Blantyre Institute of Community Outreach (BICO) and the Ministry of Health.

Sarah is also involved in trachoma control and surveillance activites in Malalwi, most recently evaluating the utility of serology assays as tools within surveillance programmes.

In 2016, Dr Burr participated in LSHTM's small grants scheme in public engagement with a project Madzi ndi moyo! (Water is Life!). This engaged school children in Malawi to use scientific methods to assess water quality in their local environment and to disseminate their findings.