The study of HIV/AIDS in African populations has led me to explore methodological issues in measurement and estimation of HIV prevalence and AIDS mortality, as well as behavioral mechanisms that account for the unequal spread of HIV. I am particularly interested in the interplay between individual agency and marriage market constraints, and their implications for individual exposure to HIV and population-level HIV prevalence.

I have been, and continue to be involved in fieldwork projects in Malawi, South Africa and Ethiopia. In South Africa, we are establishing a system for linking data from the Agincourt Health and Demographic Surveillance System with records from health facilities. The primary objective is to study access to treatment and to evaluate community-based interventions for improving the uptake of health services. With colleagues in Ethiopia, we maintain a surveillance of burials at all cemeteries of Addis Ababa to substitute for a deficient vital registration system. We have used these data for demonstrating the demographic impact of HIV/AIDS on mortality, and more recently also to document the reversal in AIDS mortality following the rollout of an antiretroviral therapy program.