Departmental Affiliations
Center & Institute Affiliations
Jean Humphrey, ScD '92, conducts research on finding feasible solutions to the underlying causes of undernutrition, morbidity, and mortality of infants and young children in low-income countries.
Research Interests
International Health; Micronutrient deficiencies and infection; HIV in women and children;
sanitation and hygiene; environmental enteric dysfunction; stunting; preterm birth
Experiences & Accomplishments
Education
ScD
Johns Hopkins University
1992
Overview
Jean Humphrey is a nutritionist whose research focusses on finding feasible solutions to the underlying causes of undernutrition, morbidity and mortality of infants and young children in low-income countries. She has studied the safety and efficacy of neonatal vitamin A supplementation; the protective role of exclusive breastfeeding in reducing breastfeeding-associated mother-to-child HIV transmission; the high risk of mortality among HIV-positive women in low-income setting whose CD4 cell counts are still high which influenced adoption initiating ART for life among all pregnant women living with HIV (Plan B+); the high risk of breastfeeding associated transmission among women who seroconvert during lactation; the role of sanitation and hygiene in infant health, growth, and survival; and low-cost interventions to prevent preterm labor. Jean founded the Zvitambo Institute for Maternal and Child Health Research in Harare, Zimbabwe in 1996, and directed it until 2019. Jean was the principal investigator of the ZVITAMBO neonatal and maternal vitamin A supplementation trial and the Sanitation Hygiene and Infant Nutrition Efficacy (SHINE) trial testing the independent and combined effects of low-cost WASH interventions and improved complementary feeding on child stunting. Jean is an RD; she earned her MSPH at UCLA, and her ScD at Johns Hopkins.
Select Publications
Most cited publications.
- Iliff PJ, Piwoz EG, Tavengwa NV, Zunguza CD, Marinda ET, Nathoo KJ, Moulton LH, Ward BJ, ZVITAMBO Study Group, and Humphrey JH. Early exclusive breastfeeding reduces the risk of postnatal HIV-1 transmission and increases HIV-free survival. AIDS 2005; 19:699-708.
- Humphrey JH, Iliff PJ, Marinda E, Mutasa K, Moulton LH, Chidawanyika H, Ward BJ, Nathoo KJ, Malaba LC, Zijenah LS, Zvandasara P, Ntozini R, Mzengeza F, Mahomva A, Ruff A, Mbizvo M, Zunguza C, and the ZVITAMBO Study Group: Effects of single large doses of vitamin A given during the postpartum period to HIV-infected women and their neonates on breastfeeding-associated mother-to-child-transmission of HIV and infant mortality in Zimbabwe. J Infectious Diseases 2006;193:860-871.
- Humphrey JH, Marinda E, Mutasa K, Moulton LH, Iliff PJ, Ntozini R, Chidawanyika H, Nathoo KJ, Tavengwa N, Jenkins A, Piwoz EG. Mother-to-child transmission of HIV among Zimbabwean women who seroconverted postnatally: prospective cohort study. BMJ 2010; 341:c6580.
- Humphrey JH: Child undernutrition, toilet, and handwashing Lancet 2009:374:1032-35.130.
- Humphrey JH, Mbuya MNN, Ntozini R, Moulton LH, Stoltzfus RJ, Tavengwa NV, Mutata K, Majo F, Mutasa B, Mangwadu G, Chasokela CM, Chigumira A, Chasekwa B, Smith LE, Tielsch JM, Jones AD, Manges AR, Maluccio JA, Prendergast AJ for the Sanitation and Hygiene Infant Nutrition Efficacy (SHINE) Trial Team. Independent and combined effects of improved water, sanitation, and hygiene, and improved complementary feeding, on child stunting and anaemia in rural Zimbabwe: a cluster-randomised trial Lancet Glob Health 2019; 7: e132–47.
Projects
HIV Care And Prevention Programs For Mothers And Children In Zimbabwe
Vitamin A Supplementation of Mothers and Newborns to Reduce Risk of HIV Transmission and Mortality in Zimbabwe
Sanitation Hygiene Infant Nutrition Efficacy (SHINE) trial
Calcium aspirin multiple micronutrients (CAMMS) to prevent preterm labor