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Dr Kevin Deane

Senior Lecturer In Economics

Economics

kevin.deane@open.ac.uk

Biography

Professional biography

I joined the OU Economics Discipline as a Senior Lecturer in January 2021. Prior to this, I was a Lecturer/Senior Lecturer in Global Public Health at Queen Mary University of London, and a Lecturer/Senior Lecturer in International Development at the University of Northampton. I have a PhD in Economics from SOAS, University of London, a MSc in Development Economics, and a BA in Economics and International Development (also SOAS). I am also a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA).

Research interests

I am an interdisciplinary specialist in Development Economics, Political Economy and Global Health. My research interests focus on the social determinants and political economy of health with a focus on infectious diseases in Eastern and Southern Africa. These include HIV, COVID-19 and Malaria. I have worked on a range of topics related to HIV including gender, migration, workplace programmes, HIV testing and the relationship between socio-economic status and HIV. I am primarily a qualitative researcher with experience of conducting fieldwork in East Africa.

Current research projects as of November 2023:

Teaching interests

I have extensive experience of teaching face-to-face and online. I have previously taught a wide range of Development Economics and International Development modules, and I also have expertise in teaching the History of Economic Thought.

I have edited (with Elisa van Waeyenberge, SOAS) a new textbook published in April 2020 titled ‘Recharting the History of Economic Thought’. This textbook takes and innovate, thematic approach to the subject with the aim of promoting pluralist economics education.

PhD Supervision

I am open to supervising PhD students on the following topics:

  • Any aspect of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in East and Southern Africa that takes a social science/political economy perspective. For example:
    • The role of Poverty/Wealth in the epidemic
    • Gender and Women’s Economic Empowerment
    • Inequalities in access to treatment
    • Living and Working with HIV
    • The Economic and Social impact of the epidemic
    • Migration
  • Critical perspectives on:
    • Cash Transfers and Health
    • Microfinance and Health
  • Political economy approaches to understanding health issues in sub-Saharan Africa

I current PhD students:

Daniel Nyato (Queen Mary, University of London), working title “Understanding the influence of increasing persecution and hostility on delivery of and access to HIV services among men who have sex with men in Tanzania”, commenced October 2019, 

External collaborations

Professional Associations

I am the International Initiative for the Promotion of Political Economy (IIPPE) Teaching Political Economy Working Group co-coordinator (with  Lorena Lombardozzi).

Projects

Overcoming colonial continuities in the area of social protection: Learning from the past

Publications

Book

Recharting the History of Economic Thought (2020)

Book Chapter

Cash Transfers and HIV Prevention in Africa (2024)

Political Economy and Social Epidemiology in the context of the HIV epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa (2024)

COVID-19 in an African Context: What the Pandemic Has Taught Us About the Development Economics Curriculum and the Need for Reform (2023)

Economics and Global Health (2023)

Can economics explain everything and solve all our problems? (2020)

The Role of Research Assistants in Qualitative and Cross-Cultural Social Science Research (2017)

Journal Article

The Unequal Economic and Livelihood Impacts of COVID-19 Lockdowns: Qualitative Evidence from Uganda (2024)

The impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on social and economic welfare in Uganda (2024)

Introducing Economics Students to Marxist Political Economy: Mental and Physical Health in the Workplace (2024)

Experiences of initiating rapid antiretroviral therapy among people newly diagnosed with HIV in East London: a qualitative study (2023)

Evaluating HIV policy: a gender analysis of the representation of women and men in UNAIDS HIV-prevention guidelines (2023)

The effects of COVID-19 lockdown measures on health and healthcare services in Uganda (2023)

The effects of COVID-19 lockdown measures on health and healthcare services in Uganda. (2023)

HIV testing attitudes and practices amongst 'wealthy men': qualitative evidence from Tanzania (2022)

A win-win scenario? Employers’ responses to HIV in Tanzania: A qualitative study (2022)

Malaria prevention interventions beyond long-lasting insecticidal nets and indoor residual spraying in low- and middle-income countries: a scoping review (2022)

A win-win scenario? Employers' responses to HIV in Tanzania: A qualitative study. (2022)

Epidemics, Lockdown Measures and Vulnerable Populations: A Mixed-Methods Systematic Review of the Evidence of Impacts on Mother and Child Health in Low-And-Lower-Middle-Income Countries (2022)

[Letter] Pre-exposure prophylaxis acceptability among transgender women in the UK (2021)

Employers’ responses to the HIV epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa: Revisiting the evidence (2019)

Why Me? Challenges Associated With Recruiting Participants for a Study Focusing on “Wealthy Men”: Reflections From Fieldwork Conducted in Tanzania (2019)

Recharting the history of economic thought: approaches to and student experiences of the introduction of pluralist teaching in an undergraduate economics curriculum (2019)

Exploring the relationship between population mobility and HIV risk: Evidence from Tanzania (2018)

Towards a political economy of the use of research assistants: reflections from fieldwork in Tanzania and Mozambique (2016)

The political economy of HIV (2015)

Wealthy and healthy? New evidence on the relationship between wealth and HIV vulnerability in Tanzania (2015)

Revisiting the economics of transactional sex: evidence from Tanzania (2015)

Migration as a Tool in Development Policy: Caution Ahead? (2013)

Linking migration, mobility and HIV (2010)