Dr Isobel Ward

Biography

Isobel is a Senior Research Fellow in Applied Health Research and joined the University of Bristol in January 2025.

Isobel leads the Data Science Team working across a range of research projects relating to Public Health and Prevention, Mental Health and Healthier Childhoods.

Isobel has experience working across academia and government (Office for National Statistics) in health research. Isobel is an experienced statistician, frequently working with electronic health records, linked to non-health data such as education or employment data. Isobel has a particular interest in Women’s Health and Children’s Health research. Isobel has recently led a large-scale cross sector evaluation of the impact of endometriosis on labour market participation in women, funded by HM Treasury. Isobel has previously led an NIHR Policy Research Programme assessing risk factors for the rise in suicide in children and young people. Prior to joining Bristol Medical School, Isobel worked as a Research Fellow at UCL in the Children and Families Policy Research Unit.

Isobel’s current interests are in women’s health and health equity and developing the use of appropriate statistical methodologies and quasi-experimental approaches to evaluate health interventions utilising novel linked data.