Contributor(s): Leyla Mahirah Nor | Getting the best value from an LSE degree is not just about securing an academic qualification. Actuarial Sciences student Leyla Nor explains why LSE’s numerous volunteering opportunities have given her the best student experience possible.

Contributor(s): Dr Ben Voyer | Major global brands are at risk of failing to win new customers from Eastern countries because they don’t take into account key cultural differences when marketing their products, according to Dr Ben Voyer, a Visiting Fellow in LSE’s Department of Psychology.

Contributor(s): Professor Martin Knapp | More funding directed towards counselling and psychotherapy services in the UK could help curb escalating costs in public and mental health and ensure the country’s future wellbeing. This is the consensus of a new, independent report authored by Professor Martin Knapp, Director of the Personal Social Services Research Unit and Professor of Social Policy at LSE.

Contributor(s): Dr Daniel Knight | Solar energy could lower both crippling domestic energy costs in Greece and also provide the debt-ridden country with a valuable export commodity, according to Dr Daniel Knight, a postdoctoral research fellow from LSE’s European Institute.

Contributor(s): Alan Fenwick | Professor Alan Fenwick of Imperial College London directs the Schistosomiasis Control Program to assist countries in sub Saharan Africa control schistosomiasis, intestinal helminths and other neglected tropical diseases. Along with colleagues from Africa and Europe, he is appealing for anthropologists and drug companies to work more collaboratively and find middle ground.

Contributor(s): Johannes Sommerfield | Social scientists, biological experts and governments need to work more collaboratively in Africa to control neglected tropical diseases, according to World Health Organization (WHO) tropical diseases expert Dr Johannes Sommerfeld. Dr Sommerfeld discusses the importance of work by anthropologists in this field, including LSE’s Head of International Development, Professor Tim Allen.

Contributor(s): John Gyapong | In spite of the great successes achieved in eliminating lymphatic filiaris (elephantiasis) in sub-Saharan Africa, there are still major challenges that need to be addressed, says Professor John Gyapong from the University of Ghana. Professor Gyapong was one of 20 experts who attended a workshop co-hosted by LSE recently, calling for more effective monitoring of mass drug administration programmes.

Contributor(s): Mutamid Amin | Controlling one of the most chronic parasitic diseases in Sudan – schistosomiasis – requires more than medical intervention from international drug agencies, according to Professor Mutamid Amin from the Afhad University for Women in Omdurman, Sudan. Education, behavioural change and community support of the drug treatment programmes are all part of the solution.