Senior Lecturer, Mathematics & Statistics
I began my 5-year Chancellor’s Fellowship award in 2015, and found the experience to have been exceptionally rewarding and The University of Strathclyde to have been a supportive employer.
During my fellowship I have collaborated with researchers, clinicians, epidemiologists and consultants in the NHS and international partners on data driven solutions to problems in public health and epidemiology. My work has helped to shape public health policy, in particular my work evaluating the impact of the HPV vaccination has provided the evidence base for vaccine and cervical screening policy in Scotland and contributed to the international evidence base. In light of this research, I was awarded the 2018 Royal Society of Edinburgh Sir Thomas Makdougall Brisbane Medal for recognition of my “outstanding, internationally renowned research in public health epidemiology and health informatics”
The University provides excellent support to its Chancellor’s Fellows such as operating a Chancellor’s Fellows network and encourages attendance at truly useful training courses offered as part of the SPARK programme. Strathclyde also provides unique opportunities for Chancellor’s Fellows to collaborate, such as the opportunity to build new research partnerships via PhD programmes such as the Strathclyde Doctoral School Centre for Doctoral Training for Chancellor’s Fellows. This opportunity has provided me with two new PhD students and new collaborators working across diverse fields such as signal processing, management science and metabolomics.
I have also found the University to be very supportive to me in my personal life, as during my fellowship I had a year of maternity leave. Upon my return, my department were very helpful allowing a phased return, reduced teaching in line with the family friendly research leave policy and the University extended the duration of my fellowship. The move to agile working, following the global pandemic, has also given me better freedom to integrate my work and family life in a way that suits me.
Overall, the Chancellor’s Fellowship scheme was a brilliant experience for me, allowing me to develop my career at pace, supporting me to achieve promotion to a Senior Lecturer role in 2019.