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DPhil Supervision

I have supervised DPhil and MSC graduates for the last 21 years. I currently supervise DPhil projects looking at the use of tests in Paediatric care, the role of AI in supporting the management of multiple long-term conditions (MLTC), methods to support decision-making in integrated care boards, interventions for smoking cessation, and identification of groups at high (health) risk due to extreme temperatures.

My primary research program focuses on managing multiple long-term conditions, the impact of extreme temperatures on health, meta-analysis methods, methodology for studying infectious diseases in children, and assessing complex interventions. 

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"Unpacking the Black Box"

Rafael Perera

DPhil MSc MA


Director Medical Statistics and Director of Graduate Studies

  • Professor of Medical Statistics
  • Fellow at St Hugh's College

I am the Director of Graduate Studies in the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences (NDPCHS), tasked with providing academic leadership, oversight, administration and advocacy for the department’s graduate students.

I am also the Director of the Statistics group  (NDPCHS), and as part of this role,  I am involved in multiple research activities within the department. However, my primary research interest is Monitoring for managing long-term conditions (e.g. Type 2 diabetes, hypertension, etc) individually or jointly (sometimes called multimorbidity).

I lead a large group of methodologists working across multiple clinical areas and have been PI of large Programmes of work and Theme lead for NIHR-funded infrastructure programmes (NIHR BRC, NIHR ARC, and NIHR MIC). I set up the NDPCHS fully accredited Clinical Trials Unit as its original Statistical Director.

I sit on various national and international panels and boards influencing healthcare policy at different levels (funding boards, steering groups, data monitoring boards, etc.) and have held multiple editorial positions. I am a Statistical Editor for the BMJ (since 2011) and BMJ Medicine (since 2022). 

I am also the Director of Research Methodologies at the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine (CEBM) and a fellow at St Hugh’s College Oxford.

Key publications

Recent publications

More publications

Current Grants 

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

NIHR Programme grant for applied research: Monitoring Long Term Conditions in Primary Care: 01/01/2014 -  31.12.2018

NIHR HTA: Optimal strategies for monitoring lipid levels in patients at risk or with cardiovascular diseases: best marker for monitoring and cost-effectiveness of different monitoring frequencies: 01/01/12 - 30/04/2014

co-applicant

NIHR Programme grant for applied research. The early use of Antibiotics for at Risk Children with Influenza in Primary care (the ARCHIE programme); 01/11/2013 - 31/10/2018

NIHR HTA. Benefits of Aldosterone Receptor Antagonism in Chronic Kidney Disease (BARACK D) Trial; 01/09/2013 - 31/03/2019

NIHR Programme grant for applied research. Optimising the diagnosis and management of hypertension in primary care through self monitoring of blood pressure. 01/02/2012 - 31/01/2017

NIHR. Improving Early Recognition of serious illness in children in primary care (CDF). 01/11/11 - 31/10/2016

NIHR HTA. An open randomised study of autoinflation in school age children (4-11 years) with otitis media with effusion (OME) in primary care: 01/09/11 - 31/08/2014 

NIHR Programme grant for applied research. Examining the role of online patient experience.01/02/2010 - 31/01/2015

Department of Health. Cochrane Tobacco Addiction review group costs. 01/04/2010 - 31/03/2015