Yale University

Russell Barbour, Ph.D.

Roles:
  • Associate Research Scientist in Public Health (Biostatistics), Yale School of Public Health
Contact:

Biography:

Dr. Barbour's research has focused on programming R software for novel statistical applications in epidemiology. He has also done  extensive  research on geographic  information  systems (GIS) for both mapping and spatially explicit analysis and spatial statistics.

As Research Associate in Applied Mathematics at the Vector Ecology Laboratory of Yale School of Medicine, Dr. Barbour applied spatial statistics and Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) to problems in vector borne disease here in the United States. Dr. Barbour used these evolving methods to integrate climate and microclimate data into probability assessments of human risk of Lyme disease and West Nile Virus.

Most recently he has completed a spatial analysis of HIV risk factors among intravenous drug users in St. Petersburg, Russia. In October 2007 he taught a seminar course at CIRA on the application of Bayesian Methods to HIV research at Yale School of  Medicine.

In 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 under various agreements between Yale and the Russian government, Dr. Barbour taught spatial statistics, Bayesian methods and Generalized Estimating Equations at the State University of St. Petersburg, Russia and the affiliated Bio-medical Center of St. Petersburg.

As a member of the Board of Trustees of the non-profit organization Medical Care Development, Dr. Barbour continues to be involved in international health projects in South Africa, Equatorial Guinea, Sudan and Madagascar. He also continues his interest in wildlife conservation and has served as a member of the International Advisory Board of the Cape Peninsula National Park in South Africa and is a member of the Development Committee of the Beza Mahafaly Special Reserve in southwestern Madagascar.

Selected Publications:

  • Heimer, R., Barbour, R., Palacios, W.R., Nichols, L.G., Grau, L.E. (2013) "Associations Between Injection Risk and Community Disadvantage Among Suburban Injection Drug Users in Southwestern Connecticut, USA." AIDS and Behavior. Aug 7. [Epub ahead of print]

  • Coman, Emil N., Margaret R. Weeks, Itzhak Yanovitzky, Eugen Iordache, Russell Barbour, Maria A. Coman, and Tania B. Huedo-Medina. "The impact of information about the female condom on female condom use among males and females from a US urban community." AIDS and Behavior 17, no. 6 (2013): 2194-201

  • Eritsyan, Ksenia, Robert Heimer, Russell Barbour, Veronika Odinokova, Edward White, Maia M. Rusakova, Tatiana T. Smolskaya, and Olga S. Levina. "Individual-level, network-level and city-level factors associated with HIV prevalence among people who inject drugs in eight Russian cities: a cross-sectional study." BMJ open 3, no. 6 (2013).

  • Shenoi SV , Brooks RP , Barbour R , Altice FL , Zelterman D , et al. (2012). "Survival from XDR-TB Is Associated with Modifiable Clinical Characteristics in Rural South Africa." PLoS ONE 7(3): e31786. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0031786 PMCID:PMC3295798

  • Niccolai, L.M., Verevochkin S.V., Toussova,O.V., White, E., Barbour, R., Andrei P. Kozlov, & Heimer, R. (2011). "Estimates of HIV incidence among drug users in St. Petersburg, Russia: continued growth of a rapidly expanding epidemic." The European Journal of Public Health, (Epub 2010), PMCID:PMC3180633

  • Niccolai, L.,Toussova, O., Verevochkin, S.V., Kozlov, A.P., Barbour, R., Heimer, R. (2010). "High HIV Prevalence Suboptimal HIV Testing, and Low Knowledge of HIV-Positive Serostatus Among Injection Drug Users in St. Petersburg, Russia." AIDS Behavior, 10. PMCID:PMC3116648

  • Paintsil E., Verevochkin S.V., Dukhovlinova E., Niccolai L.M., Barbour R., White E., Toussova O.V., Kozlov A.P., and Heimer R. (2009). "Hepatitis C Virus Infection Among Drug Injectors in St. Petersburg, Russia: Social and Molecular Epidemiology of an Endemic Infection." Addiction, 104(11):1881-1890. PMCID: PMC2763027

  • Kruse, G.R., Barbour, R., Heimer, R., Shaboltas, A.V., Toussova, O.V., Hoffman, I.F., Kozlov, A.P. (2009). "Drug Choice, Spatial Distribution, HIV Risk, and HIV Prevalence among Injection Drug Users in St. Petersburg, Russia." Harm Reduction Journal, 6(22). PMCID: PMC2731096

  • Heimer, R., Barbour, R., Shaboltas, A.V., Hoffman, I.F., & Kozlov, A.P. (2008). "Spatial Distribution of HIV Prevalence and Incidence among Injection Drug Users in St. Petersburg, Russia: Implications for HIV Transmission." AIDS, 22(1), 123-130. PMCID: PMC2778790