Ewen Harrison (OBE, FRSE, FMedSci)
Professor of Surgery and Data Science | Co-Director Centre for Medical Informatics
- Usher Institute
- College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine
Contact details
Address
- Street
-
Centre for Medical Informatics
Usher Institute, Usher Building
The University of Edinburgh
5-7 Little France Road
Edinburgh BioQuarter ‒ Gate 3 - City
- Edinburgh
- Post code
- EH16 4UX
- Street
-
Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh
- City
- Edinburgh
- Post code
- EH16 4SA
Background
Ewen is Professor of Surgery and Data Science at the University of Edinburgh and a Consultant HPB Surgeon at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh.
He is Co-Director of the Centre for Medical Informatics in the Usher Institute, University of Edinburgh. He leads the Surgical and Critical Care Informatics group which pioneers data-driven, collaborative research to improve patient outcomes after surgery across both the global north and south.
His work spans AI/machine learning, decision modelling, wearable sensing, and clinical trials. He has a PhD in Molecular Biology, an MSc in Statistics, and has contributed to over 300 research publications including co-authoring the popular book, R for Healthcare Data Science.
He is Deputy Editor at the NEJM AI.
He leads the NIHR Unit on Global Surgery at the University of Edinburgh, a collaboration with the University of Birmingham with partners in eight countries: Benin, Ghana, Guatemala, India, Mexico, Nigeria, Rwanda, and South Africa. This provides a platform for the GlobalSurg Collaborative (globalsurg.org), which holds the Guinness Record as the world’s largest scientific collaboration, with over 15,000 collaborators across over 1000 hospitals in over 100 countries. He has supported and trained surgical research teams across Africa and Asia, including Ghana, Nigeria, Rwanda, and India, recently completing the largest ever international study in cancer surgery (Lancet, January 2021).
In the UK he leads the Centre for Medical Informatics and during the pandemic he headed the analytics for two of the largest COVID-19 cohorts in the world (ISARIC4C and PHOSP-Covid). He advised UK governments including through the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) and his work has been widely reported in the media: his 4C Mortality risk prediction score was validated in >22 countries and used by clinical teams internationally, demonstrably optimizing the care that COVID-19 patients receive in hospital.
He has been appointed a Fellow of both the Academic of Medical Sciences and the Royal Society of Edinburgh. His work during the COVID-19 pandemic was recognised with an OBE in the King’s New Year’s Honours.
Qualifications
- Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBChB commendation) June 1999, University of Glasgow
- Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) July 2008, University of Edinburgh
- Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons (FRCS Gen Surg) June 2011. Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow
- MSc Statistics with Medical Applications, University of Sheffield, November 2015
Responsibilities & affiliations
- Co-Director of Centre for Medical Informatics, Usher Institute, University of Edinburgh
- Professor of Surgery & Data Science, Usher Institute, University of Edinburgh
- Consultant HPB Surgeon, Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh
- University of Edinburgh Principal Investigator, NIHR Global Research Unit on Global Surgery
Previous roles
- 2017 – 2019 Honorary Secretary: Royal Society of Medicine Surgery Section
- 2007 – 2008 President: Association of Surgeons in Training UK
- 2006 – 2008 Council: Royal College of Surgeons of England
- 2007 – 2009 Council: Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh
- 2006 – 2008 Council: Association of Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland
- 2006 – 2007 Council: Society of Academic and Research Surgery
Research summary
Expertise includes:
- Data science
- AI
- Machine learning
- Statistical methods including Bayesian approaches
- Prediction modelling and decision support
- Qualitative research methods
- Programming languages
- Wearables and mobile data collection
- Clinical trials
- Surgical trials
- Low resource settings
- Complex interventions
- Global Health
- Non-communicable diseases
- Infectious disease
- Maternal health
- Policy
- Advocacy
- Surgery
- Cancer treatment
- Cancer biology
- Epidemiology
- Public health policy
- Cross-disciplinary collaboration