The NIHR-funded Biomedical Research Centre at Imperial College London has commissioned the School of Public Health to evaluate possible policy options for the management of obesity in the UK.
Obesity is a significant and growing public health issue in the UK. As of recent estimates, around 26% of adults in England are classified as obese, with a further 38% overweight. Among children, nearly 10% of four- to five-year-olds and over 20% of 10- to 11-year-olds are obese, highlighting the scale of the problem across age groups. If current trends continue, projections suggest that by 2040, 7 in 10 adults in the UK could be living with excess weight, with obesity alone affecting over 35% of the population.
To manage this challenge, policy options must evolve. Expanding access to GLP-1 receptor agonists—such as semaglutide—could provide an effective pharmacological tool, especially for those unable to lose weight through lifestyle changes alone. Other strategies could include weight management services including bariatric surgery. A multi-faceted approach will be crucial to curbing the obesity epidemic and protecting public health resources.
Epidemiological and healthcare system simulation modelling will be useful for evaluating these options. To that end, this team will develop a novel analytical simulation framework and use it to address these pressing questions, in close collaboration with clinicians, epidemiologists, NHS managers and policy makers.
The post is created specifically for this new project. The post-holder will have responsibility for the conceptualisation and execution of the project, with the support of the supervisors and the wider team.
The post-holder will be responsible for the background research necessary to construct a model that represents the onset and progression of obesity and the onset, progression and consequences of the key conditions that are related to it, as well as the defined set of policy options to be evaluated. The post-holder will also be responsible for implementing the model as a computer simulation and analysing it within a health-economics framework using standard computational techniques. The post-holder will also be responsible for writing up the findings and presenting these in scientific, medical and lay formats.
The post-holder will be a part of a large group of epidemiologists and healthcare system specialists that use computational modelling to investigate a wide range of questions in the UK and overseas. The group is situated within the MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis and the School of Public Health, which is one of the largest groups specialising in disease modelling in the world.
The post-holder is responsible for maintaining their own continuing professional development and carrying out any other duties commensurate with the grade and purpose of the post
1. PhD in one of the following areas: Mathematical Modelling, Statistics, Infectious Disease Epidemiology or related subject or a similar quantitative discipline.
2. Programming skills in Python; or experience in at least one of the following: C, C++, Java, R, Matlab, and willingness to learn Python.
3. Experience in working with epidemiological or healthcare (or similar) data, including data cleaning, validation, summary description, and appropriate analysis using standard techniques (. general linear modelling, imputation, estimation,
4. Experience with reviewing, analysing and synthesising scientific papers and reports.
5. The opportunity to continue your career at a world-leading institution and be part of our mission to continue science for humanity.
6. Grow your career: gain access to Imperial’s sector-leading as well as opportunities for promotion and progression.
7. Sector-leading salary and remuneration package (including 39 days off a year and generous pension schemes).
8. Be part of a diverse, inclusive and collaborative work culture with various and resources to support your personal and professional .