Emma Copland

E.P. Abraham Scholarship

Joining us from:  Kent, UK

DPhil in Primary Health Care (2024)

I am a DPhil student in Primary Health Care, focusing on health inequalities in people with learning disabilities. Specifically, my project aims to improve the prediction of preventable mortality in people with learning disabilities in primary care using a mixed methods approach. I aim to achieve this through the analysis of primary care records of over 17 million people in England and through interviewing GPs and other healthcare professionals. I will also be working with people from the learning disability community to ensure that my research is relevant and will benefit the people who need it most.

Prior to starting my DPhil, I worked at the University for six years; first as a Data Analyst in the Women's Health department and then as a Research Fellow in the Primary Care department, where my work primarily focused on COVID-19 and other routine vaccination in different groups across the UK population, including people with blood cancer, immunocompromised people, children and pregnant people. Additionally, I have a strong interest in Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) in research and have been involved in setting up the department's Young Person Advisory Group. I hold a BSc in Biological Sciences and an MSc in Epidemiology from Imperial College London.

My DPhil is being supported by the Clarendon Fund in partnership with an Oxford-St Cross E.P. Abraham Scholarship, a Primary Health Care Studentship, and an EPSRC Primary Health Care Studentship, without which it would not be possible for me to pursue this programme. I have found St Cross to be a supportive and welcoming environment, and am very grateful to be part of its scholar’s community.

Outside of my studies, I enjoy singing in a choir, going to the theatre, seeing live music and long walks in nature.