Mark Francis
Official title: Senior Researcher
Tel: +358 50 338 9977
E-mail: firstname.lastname(at)thl.fi
Expertise
- Systematic reviews and evidence synthesis methods
- Studying social factors that contribute to burden of communicable and non-communicable diseases and suboptimal uptake of health interventions
- Designing and conducting mixed-methods epidemiological research in resource-limited settings
Primary duties
- Senior researcher in the Joint Action to Prevent Non-Communicable Diseases (JA PNCDs) Project
- Designing and conducting umbrella/systematic reviews assessing social inequalities in non-communicable disease burden and their risk factors globally
Education
- 2022, Doctor of Philosophy (Epidemiology), Tampere University
- 2013, Master of Science (Epidemiology), University of London
- 2008, Bachelor of Science (Zoology), Madras University
Professional background
- 2024- , Senior Researcher, THL
- 2022-2023, Postdoctoral Researcher, E3 Project, Tampere University
- 2020-2021, Doctoral Researcher, Tampere University
- 2019-2020, Research Fellow, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
- 2016-2019, Doctoral Researcher, Tampere University
- 2013-2015, Wellcome Trust Master’s Training Fellow, Christian Medical College, Vellore
- 2010-2012, Research Assistant, Christian Medical College, Vellore
- 2009-2010, Research Assistant, The International Clinical Epidemiology Trust, New Delhi
- 2022-, Senior researcher, INVEST-project, THL
Language skills
- English (excellent)
- Finnish (fair)
- Hindi (good)
- Tamil (good)
Current projects
- 2024-, European Union Joint Action to Prevent Non-Communicable Diseases (JA PNCDs)
Previous projects
- 2022-2023, Excellence in Pandemic Response and Enterprise Solutions
- 2019-2020, Global Attitudes Toward Maternal Vaccination
- 2016-2022, Vaccination Coverage and the Factors Associated with Routine Childhood Vaccination Uptake in India
- 2012-2015, Effectiveness and feasibility of membrane filtration for safe drinking water in rural India
- 2010-2012, Environmental Predictors of Enteric Infections in Southern India
Professional memberships
- 2023-, Member, International Epidemiological Association
- 2023-, Member, European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases
Affiliations
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2023-, Visiting Researcher, Tampere University
Publications and research
Dissertation/Licentiate thesis
PhD Dissertation: Vaccination Coverage and Factors Associated with Routine Childhood Vaccination Uptake in India: Findings from a National Survey and Household Surveys in Vellore, Southern India. Tampere University Dissertations 616 (2022).
P., Kortelainen M., Salokangas H & Vaalavuo M (2025) “Family Affair? Long-term Economic and Mental Effects of Spousal Cancer” Journal of Population Economics.
Kortelainen M. & Salokangas H (2023) “Kvasikokeelliset menetelmät terveydenhuollon ja terveystaloustieteen vaikutusarvioinneissa” Sosiaalilääketieteen aikakauskirja.
Böckerman P., Kortelainen M., Salokangas H & Vaalavuo M (2023) “Syövän vaikutukset puolison tuloihin ja työllisyyteen” Sosiaalilääketieteen aikakauskirja.
Vaalavuo M, Salokangas H, Tahvonen O (2023) “Gender inequality reinforced: the impact of a child’s health shock on parents’ labor market trajectories” Demography.
Salokangas H, Böckerman P, Huikari S, Korhonen M, Korpelainen R. & Svento R (2022) “Did the Finnish depression of the early 1990s have a silver lining? The effect of unemployment on long-term physical activity” Economics & Human Biology.
Salokangas RKR, From T, Luutonen S, Salokangas H, Hietala J. (2022) “Effect of childhood adversities on alcohol problems is mainly mediated by depression” The American Journal of Addictions.
Salokangas RKR, From T, Luutonen S, Salokangas H, Hietala J. (2022) “Determinants of costs of care for patients attending primary care” Psychiatria Fennica.
Scientific research articles
Journal articles
32 peer reviewed articles, e.g.
- Francis MR, Gidado S, Nuorti JP. The Risk of SARS-CoV-2 Transmission in Community Indoor Settings: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. The Journal of Infectious Diseases. 2024;, jiae261.
- Francis MR, Nuorti JP, Lumme-Sandt K, Kompithra RZ, Balraj V, Kang G, Mohan VR. Vaccination coverage and the factors influencing routine childhood vaccination uptake among communities experiencing disadvantage in Vellore, southern India: a mixed-methods study. BMC Public Health. 2021 Oct 7;21(1):1807.
- Francis MR, Nuorti JP, Kompithra RZ, Larson H, Balraj V, Kang G, Mohan VR. Vaccination coverage and the factors associated with routine childhood vaccination uptake in rural Vellore, southern India, 2017. Vaccine. 2019 May 21;37(23):3078-3087.
- Francis MR, Nohynek H, Larson H, Balraj V, Mohan VR, Nuorti JP. Factors associated with routine childhood vaccine uptake and reasons for non-vaccination in India: 1998-2008. Vaccine, 36 (44) (2018), pp. 6559-6566.
- Francis MR, Sarkar R, Balraj V, Jaffar S, Roy S, Mohan VR, Kang G. Effectiveness and feasibility of membrane filtration for safe drinking water in rural southern India. Am J Trop Med Hyg 2016 15-0675.
Conference presentations
- Quantifying the risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission in indoor community settings. Oral Presentation. Tampere Child, Adolescent, and Maternal Health Research Symposium, 2023
- Assessing the risks of water contamination and hotspots of diarrhoea in southern India using GIS. Oral presentation. The International Environmental Society (TIES) Conference, Hyderabad, 2012
- Assessing the risks of water contamination and hotspots of diarrhoea in southern India using GIS. Poster presentation. The 23rd Congress of the International Society for Environmental Epidemiology, Barcelona, 2011
- Examining spatial patterns in the distribution of low-birth-weight babies in southern India. Oral presentation. International Health GIS Conference, New Delhi, 2011
