DrThomas Cowling

I am a UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Policy Fellow at Imperial College London, based in the School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine. As part of this fellowship, I am currently seconded to the Chief Data Officer’s Directorate within the UK Government’s Department of Health and Social Care. In this role, I am providing strategic advice on national policy for health data and research environments.

My research expertise lies at the interface of three main fields: health data science, clinical epidemiology, and health system design. I am committed to improving the UK’s health data infrastructure to support world-class research and health system improvement. In the long-term, my mission is to bridge academia and government, leading policy for a high-performing, sustainable national health system.

From a technical perspective, my research has consistently focused on the analysis of large-scale, linked electronic health records. I have been awarded personal fellowships from the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and the Medical Research Council (MRC) to utilise these datasets for projects ranging from methodological innovation to applied health policy questions.

I welcome enquiries from potential collaborators, students, policy makers, the media, and others. Please use my contact details on this page - I look forward to hearing from you.

Research interests: Health Data Science • Clinical Epidemiology • Health System Design • Health Policy • Electronic Health Records (EHR) • Secure Data Environments (SDEs) • Health Data Research Service (HDRS) • Complex Adaptive Systems • Predictive Modelling