Dr Wendy J Harrison

Profile

I am an Associate Professor in Biostatistics within the Leeds Institute of Cardiovascular and Metabolic Medicine (LICAMM), School of Medicine.

I joined the University of Leeds in 2007 as a Lecturer in Biostatistics, after three years working as a statistician in the NHS and further to completing an MSc in Medical Statistics at the University of Leicester. As a researcher, I contributed my statistical expertise to projects, grants and publications in the field of health, to publications with a focus on statistical methodology and to leadership of a large medical undergraduate research methods module. I gained Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy in 2009 and a Postgraduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education in 2011. I also completed my part-time PhD in Latent Variable Modelling for Complex Observational Health Data in 2017. 

I moved to the Specialist Science Education Department in 2021. I have since become Programme Lead for Postgraduate programmes in Health Informatics with Data Science, Admissions Lead for Postgraduate Programmes and Chair of the Postgraduate Special Circumstances Committee. I was promoted to Associate Professor in 2025.

Responsibilities

• Programme Lead, Postgraduate Programmes in Health Informatics with Data Science
• Admissions Lead for Postgraduate Programmes
• Chair Postgraduate Special Circumstances Committee

Research interests

I have a strong interest in the application of methodological advances in causal inference to a wide range of applied contexts, including obesity, cancer epidemiology and paediatric cardiology. With a focus on student education, I aim to use my research interests to inform my teaching and to ensure students are exposed to a broad range of quantitative statistical methods, including those at the cutting edge of research.

Qualifications

• PhD Latent Variable Modelling for Complex Observational Health Data
• PGCLTHE
• MSc Medical Statistics
• BSc(hons) Combined Studies Mathematics / Physics

Professional memberships

• Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society (GradStat)
• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA)

Student education

I lead a Postgraduate programme in Health Informatics with Data Science, which commenced in 2022/23. I make substantial contributions to teaching on this programme, MBChB Years 2-3, and Classified Undergraduate Programmes Years 2-3, through lecturing and small-group teaching on quantitative research methods and statistics. 

Research groups and institutes

• Leeds Institute of Cardiovascular and Metabolic Medicine
• Specialist Science Education