As a board-certified infectious disease physician, clinical investigator, and global health implementer, I have dedicated my early career to understanding and addressing the dual HIV/TB epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). I have expertise in clinical epidemiology and patient-oriented and implementation science research. My research interests relate to questions of access to and delivery of HIV and TB prevention, treatment and care services for marginalized and key populations in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Current research projects include: evaluating clinical outcomes and the operational feasibility of universal test and treat approaches to HIV care and prevention in Zambian and South African prisons; understanding post-release clinical outcomes, barriers to and facilitators of HIV care engagement for HIV-infected ex-offenders in Zambia; evaluating the effects of Xpert MTB/RIF on clinician empirical TB treatment practices, and access to tuberculosis treatment and health outcomes for people living with HIV under routine programmatic conditions in Zambia; and studying novel service delivery models and maternal-infant clinical outcomes in prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT) programs in Malawi. I have a track record spanning nearly a decade of successfully conducting NIH, PEPFAR, and foundation-funded implementation science and patient-oriented research in low and middle-income countries, including Zambia where I am based full-time as a member of the UNC faculty.
Relevant Experience:
• 2017-2018 Director of Implementation Science, CIDRZ, Zambia • 2014-2017 Clinical Scientist, CIDRZ, Zambia • 2011-2012 Chief of Party, TB CARE II, USAID/Malawi • 2009-2012 Clinical Director, Partners In Health, Malawi
Recent Publications:
• 2018 Herce ME, Miller WM, Bula A, Edwards JK, Sapalalo P, Lancaster KE, et al. Achieving the first 90 for key populations in sub-Saharan Africa through venue-based outreach: challenges and opportunities for HIV prevention based on PLACE study findings from Malawi and Angola. Journal of the International AIDS Society. 2018;21.
• 2018 Wroe EB, Dunbar EL, Kalanga N, Dullie L, Kachimanga C, Mganga A, Herce M, Beste J, Rigodon J, Nazimera L, McBain RK. Delivering comprehensive HIV services across the HIV care continuum: a comparative analysis of survival and progress towards 90-90-90 in rural Malawi. BMJ Glob Health. 2018; 3:e000552. doi:10.1136/ bmjgh-2017-000552.
• 2017 Bilinski A, Birru E, Peckarsky M, Herce M, Kalanga N, Neumann C, et al. Distance to care, enrollment and loss to follow-up of HIV patients during decentralization of antiretroviral therapy in Neno District, Malawi: A retrospective cohort study. PLoS ONE. 2017 October; 12(10): e0185699.
• 2016 Telisinghe L, Charalambous S, Topp SM, Herce ME, Hoffmann CJ, Barron P, Schouten EJ, Jahn A, Zachariah R, Harries AD, Beyrer C, Amon JJ. HIV and Tuberculosis in prisons in sub-Saharan Africa. The Lancet. 2016 July 14; S0140-6736(16) 30578-5. PMID: 27427448.
• 2015 Herce ME, Kalanga N, Wroe EB, Keck JW, Chingoli F, Tengatenga L, Gopal S, Phiri A, Mailosi B, Bazile J, Beste JA, Elmore SN, Crocker JT and Rigodon J. Excellent clinical outcomes and retention in care for adults with HIV-associated Kaposi sarcoma treated with systemic chemotherapy and integrated antiretroviral therapy in rural Malawi. Journal of the International AIDS Society. 2015 May 29; 18:19929.
• 2015 Herce ME, Mtande T, Chimbwandira F, Mofolo I, Chingondole CK, Rosenberg NE, Lancaster KE, Kamanga E, Chinkonde J, Kumwenda W, Tegha G, Hosseinipour MC, Hoffman IF, Martinson FE, Stein E, van der Horst CM. Supporting Option B+ scale up and strengthening the prevention of mother-to-child transmission cascade in central Malawi: results from a serial cross-sectional study. BMC Infectious Diseases. 2015 Aug 12;15:328. PMID: 26265222.
• 2015 Herce ME, Flick RJ. Integrating HIV and palliative care: ending the false dichotomy. The Lancet HIV. 2015 Aug; 2(8):e310-e311. PMID: 26247055.
• 2015 Tompkins KM, Reimers MA, White BL, Herce ME. A diagnosis of concurrent pulmonary tuberculosis and tuberculous otitis media confirmed by Xpert MTB/RIF in the United States. Infectious Disease in Clinical Practice. 2015 September. Published Online Ahead-of-Print. DOI: 10.1097/IPC. 0000000000000333.
• 2014 Herce ME, Elmore SN, Kalanga N, Keck JW, Wroe EB, Phiri A, Mayfield A, Chingoli F, Beste JA, Tengatenga L, Bazile J, Krakauer EL, Rigodon J. Assessing and Responding to Palliative Care Needs in Rural Sub-Saharan Africa: Results from a Model Intervention and Situation Analysis in Malawi. PLoS ONE. 2014 October 14; 9(10): e110457. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0110457. PMCID: PMC4197005.
• 2011 Alsan M, Westerhaus M, Herce M, Nakashima K, and Farmer P. Poverty, global health and infectious disease: Lessons from Haiti and Rwanda. Infectious Disease Clinics of North America. 2011; 25: 611-622. PMCID: PMC3168775.
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