ProfessorPaul Elliott, FMedSci

Paul Elliott is a clinical epidemiologist with a track-record of research that aims to improve public health through leadership of rigorous and innovative large-scale population studies, that provide the necessary evidence for effective public health interventions. In the landmark INTERSALT study across 52 centres in 32 countries, he defined the importance of high sodium and low potassium intakes in high blood pressure. His findings have influenced policies to lower sodium intakes and blood pressures around the world preventing deaths and disability from cardiovascular disease. He followed up these findings with critical observations on the importance of other dietary variables in blood pressure, including protein intake, which were then adopted as part of definitive dietary intervention trials. Paul Elliott has led the UK Small Area Health Statistics Unit (SAHSU) as Director since 1991, developing the methodology and defining health effects associated with sources of environmental pollution in studies which have influenced national UK public health policies.

Main Research Interests:

Environmental epidemiology

Small-area health statistics

Public health surveillance

Non-ionising radiation and health

Environmental and genetic risk factors for chronic diseases

Nutritional epidemiology

Population cohort studies and biobanks

Hypertension

Major Research Programmes:

MRC CENTRE FOR ENVIRONMENT AND HEALTH
The Centre for Environment and Health was created in 2009 and is now an established a centre for excellence in research and postgraduate training in the field of environment and health. Research themes include Environmental Exposures; Healthy Cities, Healthy People; Molecular Signatures & Disease Pathways. The Centre hosts postgraduate students and fellows funded by its PhD studentship and early career fellowship schemes.

SMALL AREA HEALTH STATISTICS UNIT (SAHSU)
SAHSU undertakes substantive epidemiological enquiries of environmental health problems and methodological research. SAHSU studies involve environmental modelling and monitoring as well as analysis of biomarkers (of exposure, effects and genetic susceptibility) in addition to the analysis of routine health statistics, to aid interpretation of causal inference.

AIRWAVE HEALTH MONITORING STUDY
Airwave is an occupational cohort study of long-term health in relation to the use of the TETRA communication system by police force personnel (cohort of approx 53,000). The cohort now supports broader research into common diseases affecting this well-defined occupational group and is part of the Dementias Platform UK and the UK Longitudinal Linkage Collaboration. Data is now available via application to the DPUK or the UK LLC for researchers.

UK COSMOS STUDY
A large prospective cohort study of mobile phone users with long-term follow-up was recommended as a high priority by the World Health Organization to investigate potential health effects. UK COSMOS is a prospective cohort study established to investigate the possible health effects associated with longer-term use of mobile phones and other wireless technologies, and is part of the international COSMOS cohort study consortium (Denmark, France, Finland, The Netherlands, Finland, Sweden, UK). The study has collected data on approx 300,000 mobile phone users including >100,000 in UK. A follow-up survey is planned for spring/summer 2026 as part of our continued long-term study of health and mobile phone use.

SCAMP STUDY
Epidemiologic cohort study that was established to address scientific questions as to how the digital environment influences mental health in adolescence and early adulthood. The aim of the study is to investigate whether children’s use of mobile phones and/or other digital technologies that use radio waves affects their cognitive and behavioural development. Current work is on enhancing the SCAMP cohort as a major resource for holistic research into social, behavioural, technological, environmental and biological factors influencing physical and mental health, wellbeing, and cognition during the important transition period from early adolescence to early adulthood.

IMPERIAL COLLEGE DEMENTIA RESEARCH INSTITUTE
Academic Lead for a molecular epidemiology programme on linking genetic, epidemiology and metabolic phenotyping in dementia in the context of ageing, environment and lifestyle. The overarching aim of the work programme is to apply molecular epidemiologic approaches to understand the common and disparate biological pathways underlying cognitive decline, risk of dementia and AD on the one hand and cardiovascular disease on the other.

NIHR HEALTH PROTECTION RESEARCH UNIT ON RADIATION THREATS AND HAZARDS
The Unit was launched in April 2025 in partnership with the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), Institute of Cancer Research and the University of Cambridge MRC Toxicology Unit. The Unit aims to advance our understanding of how radiatrion exposures are linked to health and to use this knowledge to provide best advice to the public, radiation workers and patients and improve health protection policies and planning, including in the event of a radiation emergency. The Unit is part of the new NIHR HPRU national network.

The REAL-TIME ASSESSMENT OF COMMUNITY TRANSMISSION (REACT) research programme was designed to collect real-time data and provide reliable estimates of the prevalence of infection by the SARS-CoV-2 virus over time, by person and place across England during the COVID-19 pandemic 2020-22. The REACT cohort includes data on contemporaneous exposures and behaviours captured at scale in the community based on survey data during the first two years of the COVID pandemic (2020-2022), providing a unique opportunity to investigate the longer term impacts. REACT is being developed into a resource for research into the health and social impacts of the SARS-CoV-2 infection and data.

REACT-LC (Long COVID) is a study funded by the UKRI, NIHR and DHSC as part of the Research into the Longer Term Effects of COVID-19 in Non-hospitalised Individuals programme. This study involves people in the community who have taken part in the REACT study and investigates why some people with COVID-19 experience symptoms for several weeks or months (Long COVID), while others have a short llness or no symptoms. 

HEALTH DATA RESEARCH UK (HDR-UK) Driver programme on Social and Environmental Determinants of Health is co-led with Prof Pia Hardelid (UCL). The primary aim is to understand how social and physican environments contribute to health inequalities in the UK. By creating linked resources to health data, the programme will develop tools to inform policies and interventions aimed at reducing these inequalities.

The REACT programme has joined the Dementia Trials Accelerator, an initiative led by HDR UK and the UK DRI) to accelerate the identification and recruitment of volunteers for dementia-related clinical trials.