Email: portico-services@ucl.ac.uk
Help Desk: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/ras/portico/helpdesk
- Professor of Medical Statistics and Epidemiology
- Infection & Population Health
- Institute for Global Health
- Faculty of Pop Health Sciences
In 2000 I initiated the UK Collaborative HIV Cohort (UK CHIC) Study, a major multicentre study of >30,000 HIV-infected individuals in the UK. I am the principal investigator for the study, which is one of the largest clinical cohorts of HIV-infected individuals worldwide. The network of clinicians participating in the study includes key opinion leaders from the UK, ensuring that results from the study are fed back to clinicians and into national and international treatment guidelines.
I recently initiated a unique multi-agency initiative,
involving the National Health Service, the Health Protection Agency, the MRC
Clinical Trials Unit, academia and the patient community/advocacy groups (the
DHICE Initiative), which aims to develop a UK platform for integrated clinical
and research data. This will permit us
to address important research and translational questions relating to HIV care
in the UK, and so enhance the quality of care for those living with HIV.
Since 2001, I have been the principal statistician for the
D:A:D (Data collection on Adverse events of anti-HIV Drugs) study, a large
international multi-cohort study of >33,000 HIV-infected individuals which
aims to describe the relationship between antiretroviral drugs and
cardiovascular disease (although will be expanded to include other clinical
endpoints from 2010 onwards). I co-lead
this project with collaborators in Copenhagen, provide advice on the strategic
direction of the programme of research, and liaise with the funding body
(including representatives from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the
European Medicines Evaluation Agency (EMEA), the pharmaceutical industry and
HIV patient community).
I have been closely involved with many other large HIV
cohort studies and collaborations, both in the UK and abroad. I am a member of the Scientific Oversight
Workpackage for the EuroCoord collaboration – this is a major collaborative
effort that involves all cohorts of HIV-infected persons in Europe (with
information on >250,000 infected individuals).


I taught medical statistics and epidemiology at the Royal
Free Hospital annually from 1992-2007. Over that time, I was a tutor on the
Biometry (course lead 2000-2001), Population Studies, Communication and
Learning Skills, and Evaluation of Evidence (Site lead 2001-1008) courses, and
a member of the Curriculum Development Committee for the 'Evaluation of
Evidence' vertical spine. I have been a
tutor on several MSc. courses, have supervised 12 doctoral students, and was
the Departmental Graduate Tutor from 2007-2010.
I am a regular PhD examiner, both within UCL and externally (UK and
international). I have been a member of
the UCL Biostatistics Strategy Group, one of the aims of which is to increase
the reputation of UCL as a centre for biostatistics teaching.
With Dr Aviva Petrie, I am co-author of a best-selling
textbook, Medical Statistics at a Glance,
the third edition of which was published in 2009. This book has been modified substantially
since the first edition so that it continues to meet the needs of the current
medical school curriculum. An accompanying workbook will be published by
Wiley-Blackwell in January 2013.
I have developed and am the Course leader on an annual
four-day ‘Research Methods for HIV Research’ course, which now attracts
participants from research, clinical and industry backgrounds across Europe. Along with Dr P Mallon (University College
Dublin), I co-ordinate the SpRITE course, a three-day intensive training
program in Research Methods for Specialist Registrars in the HIV field, sponsored
by Gilead Sciences. I also co-ordinate a
series of Critical Appraisal Workshops (with Bristol-Myers Squibb), aimed at
increasing the statistical/epidemiological knowledge of junior doctors prior to
their consultant interview. In addition,
I have developed a series of training courses for collaborators in
Eastern/Central Europe that aim to build research capacity in these countries,
and many one-day training sessions on HIV epidemiology and medical statistics
for research nurses, pharmacists, junior doctors and the HIV patient community.
1995 | Doctor of Philosophy | University of London | |
1991 | Master of Science | University of Leicester | |
1988 | Bachelor of Science (Honours) | University of Bath | |
1988 | Undergraduate Degree | University of Bath |