Rachel Jordan MA, MPH, PhD

Rachel Jordan qualified with a BA in Natural Sciences from the University of Cambridge (Emmanuel College) in 1993.

After a brief spell in the pharmaceutical industry, she went on to take her first post in epidemiology at the Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine with Professors Nick Wald and Malcolm Law, undertaking a series of systematic reviews including one which led to the generation of the Polypill idea.

Returning to her hometown of Birmingham in 1998, Rachel joined the systematic review team in Public Health & Epidemiology, gaining her MPH and being awarded the Thomas McKeown project prize. In 2000, although still based at the University of Birmingham, Rachel took up a research role with the Health Protection Agency, gaining her PhD part-time over a 6-year period, and publishing further related papers, including 3 invited editorials in the BMJ. Most of her work during this period focussed on acute respiratory hospital admissions and the epidemiology of influenza and influenza vaccines.

Following completion of her PhD, Rachel became a Lecturer with responsibility for helping to manage the MPH and moving to work more on chronic respiratory diseases, before in 2008 being awarded a research fellowship from the NIHR entitled “Towards a better understanding of the definition, characteristics and health service requirements of patients with COPD in the UK” comprising a series of studies using the Health Survey for England, the GPRD and published literature.

She was an integral part of a team of investigators awarded a £2m NIHR program grant entitled “COPD in Primary Care: from case finding to improving patient outcomes, co-PI on an HTA-funded evidence review of the effectiveness of self-management for COPD and a key investigator on a number of other related primary and secondary research grants. In 2017 she was awarded an NIHR Global Health Research Group grant on COPD in primary care. Her recent trial “TargetCOPD” was awarded the 2016 RCGP Research Paper of the Year for the respiratory category.

In 2011 she was promoted to Senior Lecturer, in 2018 to Reader, and in 2023 to Professor.