Jackie Birks (MA, MSc) is a Senior Medical Statistician within the Centre for Statistics and Medicine (CSM) and Statistical Adviser for the RDS-SC.

Jackie has undertaken many systematic reviews of interventions, pharmacological and psychotherapeutic, for dementia. She has also published  individual patient data meta-analysis of interventions for dementia, and epidemiological studies of risk factors for dementia. For eight years Jackie sat on a Research Ethics Committee providing expert advice and is currently  employed as the statistician for all clinical themes by the Oxford Biomedical Research Centre (OXBRC).

Dr Jo Brett (PhD, MSc, MA) is a Senior Research Fellow in the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Oxford Brookes University. Her research is based in the Supportive Care Research Group, and her current research interests include patient perspectives of cancer survivorship, adherence to cancer drugs, and lifestyle interventions for cancer patients and heart failure patients.

Jo started her research career working for the Cancer Research Campaign Primary Care Education Group at University of Oxford from 1994 to 2004 exploring the psychological consequences, shared decision making and education around cancer screening. She then worked for the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and at the Royal College of Nursing Research Institute at Warwick Medical School on various patient-centred research studies before joining Oxford Brookes University in 2014.

She has a PhD in Health Sciences from Warwick Medical School, an MSc in Evidence-Based Health Care from the University of Oxford, and MA in Applied Social Research Skills from University of Warwick.

Jo has a particular interest in qualitative research and patient and public involvement in research (PPI).

Dr James Buchanan (DPhil) is a Research Adviser for RDS South Central and a Senior Researcher with the Health Economics Research Centre (HERC) at the University of Oxford. James joined HERC in September 2005 having completed his MA in Economic Development and Policy Analysis at the University of Nottingham. He completed a doctoral thesis at the University of Oxford in 2016 (supported by an NIHR Doctoral Research Fellowship) which investigated issues related to the economic analysis of genomic diagnostic technologies in the UK NHS.

James’ main research interests lie in the areas of economic evaluation and health technology assessment from applied and methodological perspectives, and he has worked on a number of cost-effectiveness analyses in disease areas such as cancer and inflammatory bowel disease.

James has a particular interest in economic evaluations of genetic and genomic tests and curates the Health Economics and Genomics blog.

Dr Paul Hewitson (DPhil) is a Senior Research Officer in the Department of Public Health. Originally from Newcastle (Australia) he moved to tropical England in 1999. Previously holding research posts in Health Technology Assessment (Southampton) and national guideline development (RCN), he joined the Department of Primary Care at Oxford in 2002. Primarily working on the development and evaluation of public and professional information materials for the NHS Cancer Screening Programmes, Paul has been involved in the publication of systematic reviews concerning prostate and bowel cancer screening, an evaluation of the Prostate Cancer Risk Management Programme, the development of information materials for the NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme (BCSP) and was principle investigator of a RCT for a primary care intervention to enhance participation in the NHS BCSP.

Paul moved to the Department of Public Health in 2011 to continue his work in the design and construction of questionnaires for use in public/patient/carer survey research, the development and evaluation of Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) and Patient Reported Experience Measures (PREMs) and the application of health behaviour theories. Paul’s main research interests include: questionnaire and survey research, patient and professional decision-making, the development and evaluation of patient information materials for screening and the implementation of evidence-based research.

Sophie Hyndman (PhD) is Deputy Director for the Research Design Service South Central. She graduated with a degree in Human Sciences from the University of Oxford, after which she undertook a PhD at Queen Mary College (University of London) on the effects of damp housing on health. She was employed by the Royal College of Nursing as a Research Officer on a study evaluating a quality assurance package for nurses. She then became a Research Associate and Senior Research Associate at the University of Cambridge Health Services Research Group. Here, she worked on a number of studies examining aspects of health and the health services, including work on asthma. She then helped to set up the Oxford Research Development Support Group in 1997 and remained as Co-ordinator of the various incarnations of this group until the end of 2008. Sophie now works for the Research Design Service – South Central as a part-time Research Advisor, based at the HSRU at the Department of Public Health.

Crispin Jenkinson (DPhil, MSc) is Professor of Health Services Research, Director of the Health Services Research Unit (HSRU) in the Nuffield Department of Population Health and an Official Fellow of Harris Manchester College at the University of Oxford.

He graduated from Bedford College (University of London) before coming to Oxford where he gained an MSc in psychology and then undertook research on the psychological impact of long-term illness for a DPhil. Prior to joining the HSRU in 1992, he was a research fellow at Nuffield College.

He has written and edited a number of books as well as having published over 200 peer reviewed papers. His research interests include health status measurement, the assessment of patient reported outcomes, the evaluation of patient experiences of medical care, and methodology.

José Leal (DPhil, MSc) is a Research Advisor for RDS South Central and a Senior Researcher with the Health Economics Research Centre (HERC) at the University of Oxford.

Having trained as a pharmacist, José joined HERC in 2004 after completing his MSc in Health Economics at the University of York in 2003.  He then went on to complete a doctoral thesis at the University of Oxford in 2011 on the use of multi-parameter evidence synthesis to inform economic evaluations.

Since joining HERC, José has worked on several cost-effectiveness studies in disease areas such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and inherited metabolic conditions.  He has also been involved in cost-of-illness studies aimed at informing the allocation of public research funds and in revealing differences across countries to inform further research and discussion.

José is interested in evidence synthesis frameworks in economic evaluation, individual patient level modelling and the use of large datasets to inform healthcare resource allocation decisions.

Dr Ramón Luengo-Fernández (DPhil) is a University Research Lecturer in the Health Economics Research Centre, University of Oxford and a Senior Research Adviser for the RDS-SC.

His areas of expertise include: Health economics, randomised controlled trials and patient level data

Ramón Luengo-Fernández joined the Health Economics Research Centre in January 2004 having completed his MSc in Health Economics at the University of York in 2003. In October 2005, Ramón took up a Researcher Development award from the UK Department of Health. As part of this award, in June 2009, Ramón successfully completed a DPhil at the University of Oxford on the healthcare costs and health outcomes associated with stroke.

Shortly after, Ramón was awarded an ESRC/MRC/NIHR Early career fellowship in economics of health to publish and further develop the work undertaken as part of his DPhil thesis. During his time in HERC Ramon has also been involved in numerous projects funded by NIHR, Wellcome Trust, and other charities.

Joanna Moschandreas is a Research Adviser for the Research Design Service South Central and a Senior Statistician in the Centre for Prevention of Stroke and Dementia (CPSD), Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences. Joanna graduated from Sheffield University in 1993 with a BSc in Mathematics, and then completed an MSc in Applied Statistics at the University of Oxford (1994). She also holds an MSc in Quantitative Genetics from the University of Edinburgh (2000) and a PhD in Health Sciences, University of Crete, Greece.

Joanna joined the University of Oxford Centre for Statistics in Medicine (CSM) in 2015, providing input to the design, running, analysis and reporting of early and late phase cancer clinical trials and feasibility studies within the Oxford Clinical Trials Research Unit (OCTRU) and contributing to meta-research undertaken within CSM. She joined CPSD in 2019, undertaking research with Professor Peter Rothwell aiming on improving the secondary prevention of stroke and investigating the effects of aspirin on non-vascular outcomes such as cancer. Joanna remains a facilitator on the annual RCT course run by CSM.

Phil Saunders is the Unit Administrator for the NIHR Research Design Service South Central (RDS-SC) in Oxford and doubles as Webmaster for the RDS-SC website.

Phil has worked in administration for over 15 years. Starting with the Imperial Cancer Research Fund in 2001 he became Assistant Administrator of the newly formed Cancer Research UK, Cancer Epidemiology Unit in 2006 and Unit Administrator for the Health Services Research Unit in 2006.

Milensu Shanyinde (MSc, BSc Hons) is a Research Adviser for the Research Design Service South Central and a Senior Statistician in Primary Care Clinical Trials Unit in the Department of Primary Health Care Sciences at University of Oxford.

Milensu graduated from Plymouth University in 2009 with a BSc (Hons) in Mathematics and Statistics and then completed an MSc in Statistics with Applications in Medicine at Southampton University. She joined the Centre for Statistics in Medicine (CSM), Oxford in October 2010 and whilst there was a trial statistician for a number of randomised controlled trials in the field of oncology (Barrett’s’ Oesophagus , Radiotherapy treatment in metastatic melanoma with brain metastases, Drug trial for Melanoma, Drug trial for patients with breast cancer defective tumours, Radiotherapy treatment for Rectal cancer, Drug trial of patients with Richter’s Syndrome, Dose Adaptation of Capecitabine Using Mobile Phone Toxicity Monitoring in breast and colorectal cancer patients).

Milensu joined the Primary Care Clinical Trials Unit (PC-CTU) in 2013, where she was a trial statistician for a number of trials (StAR, EXPERT, DROPLET extension, SUMMIT-D, HABIT, INVICTUS; Respiratory illness related project – PRUDENCE, Value Dx; Mental health related projects; SOCWELL, PAX-D, Ebselen) and provided statistical consultancy for the Biomedical Research Council in Department of Psychiatry. In 2014 she went to pursue a PhD in Population Health, focusing on HIV/HCV at University College London and completed in 2022. During her PhD studies, she rejoined PC-CTU in 2018 and continued work in RCTs and more recently involved in COVID-19 trials (PRINCIPLE, PANORAMIC, OCEANS III). Milensu is a module co-ordinator for the Statistics in Clinical course and sits on various Trial Steering Committees as an independent Statistician.

Dr Liz Stokes (DPhil) is a Research Adviser for RDS South Central and a Senior Researcher with the Health Economics Research Centre (HERC) in the Nuffield Department of Population Health at the University of Oxford.

Liz’s research interests lie in economic evaluation and particularly in costing within economic evaluations.  She has worked on many cost-effectiveness analyses alongside randomised controlled trials in areas such as blood transfusion, and cardiac and thoracic surgery, and has used decision modelling to assess the cost-effectiveness of additional tests to guide treatment decisions for several cardiac populations.

Liz joined HERC in November 2009, having worked at Keele University (2001-2007) and Liverpool John Moores University (2008-2009) and in this time completed an MSc in Medical Statistics at the University of Leicester.  Liz completed a doctoral thesis at the University of Oxford in 2016 on the costs and cost-effectiveness of transfusion management strategies in cardiac surgery.

Pradeep Virdee (MSc) is a Medical Statistician based in the Centre for Statistics in Medicine (CSM), University of Oxford and a Statistical Research Advisor for the RDS South Central (Oxford).

Pradeep’s primary area of expertise is applying statistical input into the execution and management of oncology clinical trials (FOXFIRE, SCALOP-2, DEBIOC, BKM120, ART, SPARC, and DietCompLyf). His other projects and research interests include non-oncology clinical trials, systematic reviews and methodological research for early detection of colorectal cancer. Pradeep teaches statistical programming to non-statisticians for the University of Oxford’s IT Career Services.

Pradeep graduated from Coventry University in 2012 with a BSc in Mathematics and from the University of Leicester in 2013 with an MSc in Medical Statistics. He joined CSM in 2014.

Eila Watson is Professor of Supportive Cancer Care and Deputy Director (Interim) of the Oxford Institute of Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health Research at Oxford Brookes University. Eila is a health services researcher with over 20 years experience using a range of research methods including quantitative, qualitative, trials, and systematic reviews. Her own research focuses on understanding the impact of cancer and its treatment on individuals and their families, and developing and trialling interventions to address areas of unmet need. She is also an experienced PhD supervisor, and post-graduate research tutor.

Eila is a member of the National Cancer Research Institute Living With and Beyond Cancer Group, and the Yorkshire Cancer Research Scientific Advisory Board. She is a past member of the NIHR RfPB panel (Oxford) and Tenovus Advisory panel, and is past president of the British Psychosocial Oncology Society.

Nicola Williams (MSc, BSc Hons) is a Senior Trial Statistician with the Primary Care Clinical Trials Unit at the University of Oxford. Nicola graduated from Cardiff University in 2002 with a BSc(Hons) in Mathematics and then completed an MSc in Medical Statistics at the University of Leicester.

She joined the Centre for Statistics in Medicine (CSM), Oxford in November 2003 and whilst there provided statistical support and consultancy to the local NHS (Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Buckinghamshire) and was trial statistician for a number of randomised controlled trials in the fields of paediatrics (Child Anxiety Trial, MaCh) and psychiatry (BALANCE).

Nicola joined the Primary Care Clinical Trials Unit in 2014, where she is trial statistician for a number of trials, provides statistical consultancy for the Centre for Clinical Vaccinology and Tropical Medicine (CCVTM) and is a research advisor for the South Central RDS.

Dr Jane Wolstenholme (PhD) is a Senior health economist in the Health Economics Research Centre and Senior health economics adviser for the RDS-SC. She provides advice on the design, methods, conduct, analysis and reporting of health economic research.

Her main interests and expertise include designing and conducting economic evaluations alongside trials and cost-effectiveness models. She is principle investigator and co-applicant on a broad variety of funded research projects across a number of disease areas and health care technologies including cancer, mental health, obesity, point of care diagnostics.
Trial based economic evaluation, model based economic evaluation, preference-based outcome measures.

Jane has over 20 years’ experience as an academic health economist.

MSc Health Economics, University of York
PhD Health Economics, University of Nottingham
Employed by HERC, University of Oxford since 1998

Ly-Mee Yu (MSc, BSc Hons) is a Research Advisor for the RDS South Central and the Lead Trial Statistician at the CTU within the Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford.

Ly-Mee graduated from Dundee Institute of Technology (Scotland) with a BSc (Hons) in Applied Mathematics in 1991, followed by an MSc in Medical Statistics from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in 1992.  She then worked as a research assistant at the HIV-GUM unit in Chelsea and Westminster Hospital (London).

In 1994, Ly-Mee began working for the Centre for Clinical Trials and Epidemiological Research at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, where her remit was to provide statistical support to various specialties, including therapeutic medicine, paediatrics, and surgery.  During this period, she was also involved in teaching medical statistics to medical professionals.

Ly-Mee joined Oxford’s Centre for Statistics in Medicine (CSM) in 2003, where she led a team of statisticians that collaborated on a variety of clinical studies and supported numerous funding applications.

Throughout her career, Ly-Mee has worked in a wide range of clinical areas, including but not limited to, vaccinology, cardiovascular medicine, infectious disease, surgery, allied health, mental health, neurosciences, respiratory and orthopaedics.