Projects per year
Personal profile
Research expertise
I am an epidemiologist whose research focusses on the design, implementation and evaluation of strategies to improve access to sexual health services. I have an interest in the social determinants of sexual health and of access to services, and in the co-development and evaluation of interventions to address these determinants. My research uses a variety of methods, including cluster-randomised trials, non-randomised evaluations, cross sectional surveys (including respondent-driven and time-location sampling surveys), systematic reviews and qualitative methods.
Currently, I am co-PI of the CHoNGeTSa study, which aims to estimate the prevalence of sexually transmitted infections among adolescents and young people aged 15-24 in Lusaka, Zambia, and Impact Evaluation work package lead for a multi-disease, including HIV, intervention for men to overcome health systems barriers in Zambia.
Until 2022, I worked at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine where I was PI of a study to understand barriers to HIV-related services among men in Zambia and to co-design an intervention to improve their uptake of HIV-related services and co-PI of a study in Senegal to co-design an intervention to improve access to sexual and reproductive health services among adolescents aged 15 to 19. I was co-investigator of cluster-randomised trials to estimate the impact of community-based, peer-led, comprehensive sexual and reproductive health services on knowledge of HIV status among adolescents and young people aged 15 to 24 in Zambia (the Yathu Yathu trial) and a community-based distribution of HIV self-testing kits, a trial nested in the HPTN 071 (PopART) trial in Zambia. I was an epidemiologist on a non-randomised study to estimate the impact of DREAMS (Determined, Resilient, Empowered, AIDS-free, Mentored, and Safe), a multi-component intervention to reduce HIV incidence among adolescent girls and young women, on HIV incidence among young women who sell sex in Zimbabwe.
I organise the Design and Evaluation of Health Programmes (DEHP) short course, teach on other Master's (short) courses and supervise PhD students.
Education/Academic qualification
Epidemiology, PhD
2011 → 2015
Control of Infectious Diseases, MSc, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
2006 → 2007
Pharmacology, BSc, King's College London
2000 → 2003
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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
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Evaluating the Impact of Differentiated Service Delivery Approaches on viral load suppression and retention in care among Adolescents aged 10-19 living with HIV in Masaka Region, Uganda
Kaakyo, M., Hensen, B., Kagaayi, J. & Willem, L.
1/01/25 → …
Project: PhD-project
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ELearning PreP: Developing and testing an E-learning on PrEP for general practitioners in Flanders
1/01/25 → 31/12/25
Project: Research Project
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Addressing Disparities in Uptake of HIV Prevention among Young Female Sex Workers in Cameroon
Nti Mvilongo, P. T., Hensen, B., Nöstlinger, C., Michielsen, K. & Njukeng, P.
1/01/25 → …
Project: PhD-project
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CHoNGeTSa: A survey to estimate the prevalence of STIs among youth in Zambia
Hensen, B., Hensen, B., De Baetselier, I., Ayles, H., Phiri, M. M. & Schaap, A.
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
7/12/23 → 31/07/25
Project: Research Project
Research output
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Acceptability of and experiences with menstrual hygiene cups among adolescent girls and young women aged 15-24 in two communities in Lusaka, Zambia: an exploratory study nested in the Yathu Yathu trial
Gondwe, M., Simuyaba, M., Phiri, M., Mwansa, C., Schaap, A., Sigande, L., Shanaube, K., Floyd, S., Fidler, S., Ayles, H., Simwinga, M. & Hensen, B., 2025, In: Reproductive Health. 22, 1, 9 p., 20.Research output: Contribution to journal › A1: Web of Science-article › peer-review
Open Access -
Co-designing healthcare interventions with users: a discrete choice experiment to understand young people's preferences for sexual and reproductive health services in Lusaka, Zambia
Mwenge, L., Quaife, M., Sigande, L., Floyd, S., Simuyaba, M., Phiri, M., Mwansa, C., Kabumbu, M., Simwinga, M., Shanaube, K., Schaap, A., Fidler, S., Hayes, R., Ayles, H., Hensen, B. & Hangoma, P., 2025, (E-pub ahead of print) In: The Patient - Patient-Centered Outcomes Research. 12 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › A1: Web of Science-article › peer-review
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Is global health security worth 0.01% of our gross domestic product?
Ooms, G., Assefa, Y., Charalambous, S., Dah, T. T. E., Decoster, K., de Jong, B., Hensen, B., Komatsu, R., Magloire, N. H., Mitchell, E. M. H., Reyniers, T., Rosanas-Urgell, A., Tarrafeta-Sayas, M-B., Tinto, H., Whiteside, A. & Ravinetto, R., 2025, In: PLoS Global Public Health. 5, 5, e0004491.Research output: Contribution to journal › Editorial › peer-review
Open AccessFile -
Knowledge of HIV status among men aged 20-35 years in Lusaka, Zambia: findings from a pilot time location sampling survey in the "Yaba Guy Che" (for the guys) study
Phiri, MM., Sigande, LM., Mwansa, C., Schaap, A., Floyd, S., Kalekanya, L., Banda, C., Belemu, S., Ayles, H., Simwinga, M. & Hensen, B., 2025, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Tropical Medicine and International Health. 9 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › A1: Web of Science-article › peer-review
Open Access -
When health data go dark: the importance of the DHS Program and imagining its future
Khaki, J. J., Molenaar, J., Karki, S., Olal, E., Straneo, M., Mosuse, M. A., Fouogue, J. T., Hensen, B., Baguiya, A., Musau Nkola, A., Wong, K. L. M., Ba, O. A., Kikula, A., Grovogui, F. M., Semaan, A., Asefa, A., Macharia, P. M., Chikwari, C. D., Ouédraogo, M. O., Christou, A., & 10 others , 2025, In: BMC Medicine. 23, 1, 241.Research output: Contribution to journal › A1: Web of Science-article › peer-review
Open Access