My work integrates ecological, epidemiological, and social science methods within Community-Based Participatory Research frameworks, spanning from boreal ecosystems to urban slums in Brazil. Central to my approach is understanding how socio-ecological factors shape disease risk and identifying barriers to prevention, moving beyond individual behaviour to address systemic determinants like sanitation, inequality, and loss of biodiversity. I lead collaborative efforts with communities, stakeholders, and international partners to design, implement, and evaluate sustainable, locally-supported interventions that empower low-income populations and create healthier environments.

Quality of life among residents of informal urban settlements during the COVID-19 pandemic in Salvador, Brazil
Hammed Mogaji, Nivison Nery, Hernan D Argibay, Jaqueline S Cruz, Ianei O Carneiro, Ricardo Lustosa, Albert I Ko, Federico Costa, Mike Begon, Hussein Khalil -  BMJ Public Health 2024;2:e000572.

Why is leptospirosis hard to avoid for the impoverished? Deconstructing leptospirosis transmission risk and the drivers of knowledge, attitudes, and practices in a disadvantaged community in Salvador, Brazil.
Palma FAG, Costa F, Lustosa R, Mogaji HO, de Oliveira DS, et al. (2022)  PLOS Global Public Health 2(12): e0000408. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgph.0000408

Using Rhodamine B to assess the movement of small mammals in an urban slum. 
Awoniyi, A. M., Souza, F. N., Zeppelini, C. G., Xavier, B. I. A., Barreto, A. M., Santiago, D. C. C., Santana, J. O., da Silva, E. M., Costa, F., Begon, M., & Khalil, H. (2021). Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 12, 2234–2242. https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210X.13693

Population dynamics of synanthropic rodents after a chemical and infrastructural intervention in an urban low-income community.
Awoniyi, A.M., Venegas-Vargas, C., Souza, F.N. et al.  Sci Rep 12, 10109 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-14474-6

Climate change accelerates winter transmission of a zoonotic pathogen.
Ambio 51, 508–517  Sipari, S., Khalil, H., Magnusson, M. et al.(2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-021-01594-y

Poverty, sanitation, and Leptospira transmission pathways in residents from four Brazilian slums.
Khalil H, Santana R, de Oliveira D, Palma F, Lustosa R, et al. (2021)  PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases 15(3): e0009256. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0009256

Declining ecosystem health and the dilution effect.
Khalil, H., Ecke, F., Evander, M. et al. Sci Rep 6, 31314 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/srep31314