Andrew James Williams is an epidemiologist and statistician, who joined the University of St Andrews as Senior Lecturer in Public Health in 2020. As part of the Division of Population and Behavioural Science within the University of St Andrews School of Medicine, Andrew is excited to be establishing some new projects and collaborations as well as continuing to lead work package 1 of the NIHR funded ‘Is 20 plenty for health?’ project. At the European Centre for Environment and Human Health, Andrew was a research lead on the ERDF Smartline, Inclusivity projects. He teaches ecological public health, global public health and evaluation at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Andrew’s research interests lie in the social and cultural determinants of health (the fifth wave of public health), especially among children and young people, and the use of administrative and secondary data.

He is interested in the applications of theories such as complexity theory and salutogenesis to bring about improvements in the health of the public. His research is often collaborative and transdiciplinary, including engaged research (such as his work with the TR14ers). Previously Andrew was the Research Fellow in natural experimental approaches for the Farr Institute @ Scotland within the Scottish Collaboration for Public Health Research and Policy, University of Edinburgh. As an epidemiologist and statistician, Andrew has a strong foundation in public health and is keen to support public understanding, use and involvement in research.

Epidemiology; Evaluation; Complexity; Salutogenesis; Obesity; Child and adolescent health; Community health