Helen trained in medicine at Sheffield University and is now Clinical Professor of Public Health at Imperial College London. She has 3 decades of experience in research, education and applied public health, with an international reputation in the field of the epidemiology and control of sexually transmitted infections and HIV and over 200 publications. She promotes participatory approaches in research, heading the multidisciplinary Imperial NIHR BRC Patient Experience Research Centre (PERC) which leads on public involvement and engagement in research. Helen is also Director of Education for the Imperial School of Public Health, a member of the Supervisory Board of EIT Health and of the ISSTDR.

Helen’s interest in personalisation spans a number of areas. First, understanding how groups are constructed in epidemiological and clinical research using social and biological parameters, and then findings are disaggregated and applied to individual patients. Second, exploring how notions personalised medicine differ between patients, clinicians and scientists. Third, measuring the impact of inequalities in participation – in research, data sharing and access to healthcare.