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Mercedes Becerra, ScD

Jeffrey Cheah Professor of Global Health and Social Medicine

Mercedes C. Becerra, ScD, is the Jeffrey Cheah Professor of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School. She is also the Faculty Dean of Adams House at Harvard College.  Professor Becerra completed the AB degree at Harvard College in 1991 (History), followed by the MSc (Population and International Health) in 1993 and the DSc (Epidemiology) in 1999, both at the Harvard School of Public Health. 

For more than 25 years, Professor Becerra has conducted research focused on improving the treatment of drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB), strategies to estimate and detect TB in children, and strategies to treat and prevent TB in families exposed at home to this airborne infection. She sustains long-term collaborative partnerships with three international health delivery organizations: Partners In Health, IRD Global, and Advance Access & Delivery. Professor Becerra is co-founder of the Sentinel Project on Pediatric Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis— a network of clinicians, investigators, and advocates who collaborate to share evidence and resources that can increase children’s access to prompt and effective treatment.  Professor Becerra is also a co-founder of the Zero TB Initiative— a global consortium of local coalitions working to drive down TB rates, one community at a time.

Dr. Becerra's research focuses on the treatment and epidemiology of tuberculosis. She studies the burden of tuberculosis in the child and adult household contacts of tuberculosis patients. She also studies strategies to improve tuberculosis screening and treatment in children and high-risk households.

Complete list of Dr. Mercedes Becerra's publications on MyBibiliography.

Culture-negative TB: clinical characteristics, risk factors and treatment outcomes.
Authors: Authors: Okoya F, Huang CC, Zhang Z, Lecca L, Calderón R, Contreras C, Yataco R, Galea J, Becerra M, Murray M.
Int J Tuberc Lung Dis
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Spatial scale of tuberculosis transmission in Lima, Peru.
Authors: Authors: Huang CC, Trevisi L, Becerra MC, Calderón RI, Contreras CC, Jimenez J, Lecca LW, Yataco RM, Zhang Z, Murray MB.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
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The Contribution of Chest Radiography to the Clinical Management of Children Exposed to Tuberculosis.
Authors: Authors: Huang CC, Tan Q, Becerra MC, Calderon R, Chiang SS, Contreras C, Lecca L, Jimenez J, Perez-Velez CM, Roya-Pabon CL, Yataco R, Xu H, Zhang Z, Murray M.
Am J Respir Crit Care Med
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Age-specific Clinical Presentation and Risk Factors for Extrapulmonary Tuberculosis Disease in Children.
Authors: Authors: Dubois MM, Brooks MB, Malik AA, Siddiqui S, Ahmed JF, Jaswal M, Amanullah F, Becerra MC, Hussain H.
Pediatr Infect Dis J
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A role for community-level socioeconomic indicators in targeting tuberculosis screening interventions.
Authors: Authors: Brooks MB, Jenkins HE, Puma D, Tzelios C, Millones AK, Jimenez J, Galea JT, Lecca L, Becerra MC, Keshavjee S, Yuen CM.
Sci Rep
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Mapping local hot spots with routine tuberculosis data: A pragmatic approach to identify spatial variability.
Authors: Authors: Brooks MB, Millones AK, Puma D, Contreras C, Jimenez J, Tzelios C, Jenkins HE, Yuen CM, Keshavjee S, Lecca L, Becerra MC.
PLoS One
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Age-specific effectiveness of a tuberculosis screening intervention in children.
Authors: Authors: Brooks MB, Dubois MM, Malik AA, Ahmed JF, Siddiqui S, Khan S, Brohi M, Das Valecha T, Amanullah F, Becerra MC, Hussain H.
PLoS One
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Prediction Tool to Identify Children at Highest Risk of Tuberculosis Disease Progression Among Those Exposed at Home.
Authors: Authors: Brooks MB, Lecca L, Contreras C, Calderon R, Yataco R, Galea J, Huang CC, Murray MB, Becerra MC.
Open Forum Infect Dis
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Identifying barriers and facilitators to implementation of community-based tuberculosis active case finding with mobile X-ray units in Lima, Peru: a RE-AIM evaluation.
Authors: Authors: Yuen CM, Puma D, Millones AK, Galea JT, Tzelios C, Calderon RI, Brooks MB, Jimenez J, Contreras C, Nichols TC, Nicholson T, Lecca L, Becerra MC, Keshavjee S.
BMJ Open
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Predictors of unsuccessful tuberculosis treatment outcomes in children from a prospective cohort study in Pakistan.
Authors: Authors: Brooks MB, Malik A, Khan S, Ahmed JF, Siddiqui S, Jaswal M, Saleem S, Amanullah F, Becerra MC, Hussain H.
J Glob Health
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