Molly F

Molly Forrest Franke, SD

Professor, Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School
Associate Professor, Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Epidemiologist, Global Health Research Core

Molly F. Franke, ScD, completed undergraduate studies in Sociology and Spanish at Colby College and doctoral training in Epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Prior to joining the Department, she worked for the Massachusetts Department of Public Health Epidemiology & Immunization Surveillance Program and Partners In Health in Peru and Rwanda. She is a long-time volunteer with the Elm Project, which supports underserved youth affected by chronic illness.

Professor Franke serves as Co-Director of Harvard University Centers for AIDS Research Developmental and Mentoring Core and is an active mentor in the Harvard Medical School Masters of Medical Sciences in Global Health Delivery (MMSc-GHD) program, serving on the Curriculum and Admissions Committees. Throughout her career, Professor Franke has contributed to the learning of dozens of students and trainees within the Harvard community, at other institutions of higher learning, and in the places where she conducts research. She has been recognized for excellence in mentoring: in 2017, she received the Jo Rae Wright Award for promising contributions to pulmonary research along with outstanding mentoring and professional leadership qualities, and in 2020, she was awarded the Young Mentor Award by Harvard Medical School.

Professor Franke is a global health researcher whose work brings the rigor of epidemiology to intractable infections (tuberculosis, cholera, HIV, SARS-CoV-2) and chronic diseases (diabetes, hypertension, depression). Her work has spanned a range of settings including Peru, Haiti, Rwanda, Lesotho, Papua New Guinea, and the United States.

Franke’s current work has two broad objectives. The first is to improve the health of children and adolescents affected by TB and HIV. She leads intervention work in Peru that aims to improve the treatment outcomes and overall well-being of adolescents and young adults living with HIV through the provision of community-based support and through youth-friendly modalities, such as social media. The second objective of her work is to ensure that care and treatment of health conditions that disproportionately affect the poor and socially marginalized are guided by the highest possible quality of evidence. To this end, she seeks to identify and apply the best epidemiologic methods for addressing critical knowledge gaps related to interventions and treatment.  Examples of her work in this area include the design of robust studies to assess the effectiveness of cholera interventions, including vaccination, and the use of causal inference-based approaches to study treatment for drug-resistant tuberculosis.

Improved retention associated with community-based accompaniment for antiretroviral therapy delivery in rural Rwanda.
Authors: Authors: Franke MF, Kaigamba F, Socci AR, Hakizamungu M, Patel A, Bagiruwigize E, Niyigena P, Walker KD, Epino H, Binagwaho A, Mukherjee J, Farmer PE, Rich ML.
Clin Infect Dis
View full abstract on Pubmed
User Perceptions of an mHealth Medicine Dosing Tool for Community Health Workers.
Authors: Authors: Palazuelos D, Diallo AB, Palazuelos L, Carlile N, Payne JD, Franke MF.
JMIR Mhealth Uhealth
View full abstract on Pubmed
Clinical outcomes of a comprehensive integrated program for HIV-exposed infants: a 3-year experience promoting HIV-free survival in rural Rwanda.
Authors: Authors: Gupta N, Cyamatare FR, Niyigena P, Niyigena JW, Stulac S, Mugwaneza P, Drobac P, Rich M, Franke MF.
J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr
View full abstract on Pubmed
Aggressive regimens for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis reduce recurrence.
Authors: Authors: Franke MF, Appleton SC, Mitnick CD, Furin JJ, Bayona J, Chalco K, Shin S, Murray M, Becerra MC.
Clin Infect Dis
View full abstract on Pubmed
Tuberculosis in children exposed at home to multidrug-resistant tuberculosis.
Authors: Authors: Becerra MC, Franke MF, Appleton SC, Joseph JK, Bayona J, Atwood SS, Mitnick CD.
Pediatr Infect Dis J
View full abstract on Pubmed
Implementation of genotype MTBDRplus reduces time to multidrug-resistant tuberculosis therapy initiation in South Africa.
Authors: Authors: Jacobson KR, Theron D, Kendall EA, Franke MF, Barnard M, van Helden PD, Victor TC, Streicher EM, Murray MB, Warren RM.
Clin Infect Dis
View full abstract on Pubmed
Alcohol, hospital discharge, and socioeconomic risk factors for default from multidrug resistant tuberculosis treatment in rural South Africa: a retrospective cohort study.
Authors: Authors: Kendall EA, Theron D, Franke MF, van Helden P, Victor TC, Murray MB, Warren RM, Jacobson KR.
PLoS One
View full abstract on Pubmed
Aggressive regimens for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis decrease all-cause mortality.
Authors: Authors: Mitnick CD, Franke MF, Rich ML, Alcantara Viru FA, Appleton SC, Atwood SS, Bayona JN, Bonilla CA, Chalco K, Fraser HS, Furin JJ, Guerra D, Hurtado RM, Joseph K, Llaro K, Mestanza L, Mukherjee JS, Muñoz M, Palacios E, Sanchez E, Seung KJ, Shin SS, Sloutsky A, Tolman AW, Becerra MC.
PLoS One
View full abstract on Pubmed
Risk factors for in-hospital mortality among children with tuberculosis: the 25-year experience in Peru.
Authors: Authors: Drobac PC, Shin SS, Huamani P, Atwood S, Furin J, Franke MF, Lastimoso C, del Castillo H.
Pediatrics
View full abstract on Pubmed
Indication of reactor ?(e) disappearance in the Double Chooz experiment.
Authors: Authors: Abe Y, Aberle C, Akiri T, dos Anjos JC, Ardellier F, Barbosa AF, Baxter A, Bergevin M, Bernstein A, Bezerra TJ, Bezrukhov L, Blucher E, Bongrand M, Bowden NS, Buck C, Busenitz J, Cabrera A, Caden E, Camilleri L, Carr R, Cerrada M, Chang PJ, Chimenti P, Classen T, Collin AP, Conover E, Conrad JM, Cormon S, Crespo-Anadón JI, Cribier M, Crum K, Cucoanes A, D'Agostino MV, Damon E, Dawson JV, Dazeley S, Dierckxsens M, Dietrich D, Djurcic Z, Dracos M, Durand V, Efremenko Y, Elnimr M, Endo Y, Etenko A, Falk E, Fallot M, Fechner M, von Feilitzsch F, Felde J, Fernandes SM, Franco D, Franke AJ, Franke M, Furuta H, Gama R, Gil-Botella I, Giot L, Göger-Neff M, Gonzalez LF, Goodman MC, Goon JT, Greiner D, Guillon B, Haag N, Hagner C, Hara T, Hartmann FX, Hartnell J, Haruna T, Haser J, Hatzikoutelis A, Hayakawa T, Hofmann M, Horton-Smith GA, Ishitsuka M, Jochum J, Jollet C, Jones CL, Kaether F, Kalousis L, Kamyshkov Y, Kaplan DM, Kawasaki T, Keefer G, Kemp E, de Kerret H, Kibe Y, Konno T, Kryn D, Kuze M, Lachenmaier T, Lane CE, Langbrandtner C, Lasserre T, Letourneau A, Lhuillier D, Lima HP, Lindner M, Liu Y, López-Castanõ JM, LoSecco JM, Lubsandorzhiev BK, Lucht S, McKee D, Maeda J, Maesano CN, Mariani C, Maricic J, Martino J, Matsubara T, Mention G, Meregaglia A, Miletic T, Milincic R, Milzstajn A, Miyata H, Motta D, Mueller TA, Nagasaka Y, Nakajima K, Novella P, Obolensky M, Oberauer L, Onillon A, Osborn A, Ostrovskiy I, Palomares C, Peeters SJ, Pepe IM, Perasso S, Perrin P, Pfahler P, Porta A, Potzel W, Queval R, Reichenbacher J, Reinhold B, Remoto A, Reyna D, Röhling M, Roth S, Rubin HA, Sakamoto Y, Santorelli R, Sato F, Schönert S, Schoppmann S, Schwan U, Schwetz T, Shaevitz MH, Shrestha D, Sida JL, Sinev V, Skorokhvatov M, Smith E, Spitz J, Stahl A, Stancu I, Strait M, Stüken A, Suekane F, Sukhotin S, Sumiyoshi T, Sun Y, Sun Z, Svoboda R, Tabata H, Tamura N, Terao K, Tonazzo A, Toups M, Trinh Thi HH, Veyssiere C, Wagner S, Watanabe H, White B, Wiebusch C, Winslow L, Worcester M, Wurm M, Yanovitch E, Yermia F, Zbiri K, Zimmer V.
Phys Rev Lett
View full abstract on Pubmed