Overview

I arrived at the University of Exeter in March 2019 to take up a personal chair in clinical and social epidemiology.  I lead the School for Public Health Environments Research at Exeter (SPHERE), which is the University's membership in the NIHR School for Public Health Research; the Exeter-Cardiff-Birmingham NIHR Public Health Review Team; and co-lead with Prof Jo Thompson Coon the newly established evidence synthesis group Isca Evidence.  At national level, I am the Associate Director for Involvement and Engagement for the NIHR School for Public Health Research.  In addition, I am Deputy Director of the Exeter NIHR Policy Research Programme Evidence Reviews Facility.  Until July 2023, I led the Peninsula Technology Assessment Group (PenTAG), one of 11 major research units in the UK providing expert advice on the clinical and cost effectiveness of new drugs to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.  I continue as chief investigator of the platform grant that underpins PenTAG's work, alongside contributing to parallel programmes in health policy and medical technologies evaluation.  Finally, I hold the citiesRISE Research Chair in Public Mental Health, through which I lead a programme of research to develop new ways of promoting mental health for children and young people around the world.

My work spans health technology assessment (HTA), public health of child and adolescent social development (particularly as it relates to schools), and intimate partner violence.  My focus on HTA stems from an enjoyment of the kinds of knotty methodological problems, both statistical and conceptual, that this area can present, as well as an appreciation for the impact of timely and rigorous scientific advice on the policy process.  Indeed, the development of methods to support HTA and, relatedly, systematic reviews of complex interventions is a key area of my work.  This has included innovations in network meta-analysis, qualitative metasynthesis and realist evaluation, including as relates to the integration of realist evaluation into randomised trials.  My ongoing work on child and adolescent health and on intimate partner violence is primarily through NIHR-funded projects, both randomised controlled trials and large-scale evidence syntheses, and through international collaborations.  Beyond citiesRISE, these collaborations are most notably with colleagues at Stellenbosch University, where I hold an extraordinary professorship.

As an educator, I am passionate about effective teaching of research methods across all levels, from foundational statistics to advanced survival analysis.  I led the development of the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences' Master of Public Health degree, and I also teach a third-year optional module on health technology assessment for BSc Medical Sciences undergraduates.  Bringing together my expertise in public health and my enthusiasm for education, I am the University of Exeter's Academic Advisor for Student Health and Wellbeing, and serve as co-Director of Education and Student Experience in the Department of Public Health and Sports Science.

Qualifications

• NIHR Senior Investigator (Apr 2024-present)
• Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing
• Fellow of the Faculty of Public Health
• National Teaching Fellow
• Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
• Master of Public Health (with Delta Omega honours), Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University
• DPhil in Social Intervention, University of Oxford
• MPhil in Evidence-Based Social Intervention (with distinction), University of Oxford
• BSc in Economics (summa cum laude), The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
• BSc in Nursing (summa cum laude), School of Nursing, University of Pennsylvania

Career

My doctorate, which was in social epidemiology and medical sociology, focused on substance use and sexual risk behaviours in men who have sex with men, integrating advances in both systematic review methods and latent variable modelling.  After a first lecturing post in social policy and social intervention at the University of Oxford (2013-2015), I began working in HTA at the University of Warwick (2015-2017).  As a member of their technology assessment group, I led the multiple technology assessment project that re-evaluated first-line therapies for multiple sclerosis.  Before arrival at Exeter, I worked at the Centre for the Development and Evaluation of Complex Interventions for Public Health Improvement (DECIPHer) at Cardiff University (2017-2019), where I developed research on child health and on intimate partner violence.

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Publications

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Teaching

Modules

2023/24

• HPDM118 - Structuring and Solving Public Health Problems
• HPDM118Z - Structuring and Solving Public Health Problems
• HPDM125 - Integrative Policy and Practice Exercise
• HPDM125Z - Integrative Policy and Practice Exercise
• HPDM126Z - Capstone Project
• HPDM136 - Evidence to Decision: Health Technology Assessment, Health Policy and Resource Allocation
• HPDM136Z - Evidence to Decision: Health Technology Assessment, Health Policy and Resource Allocation
• HPDM141 - Pandemics: Drivers, Preparedness and Response
• HPDM141Z - Pandemics: Drivers, Preparedness and Response

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Supervision / Group

Postgraduate researchers

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