Professors Katie Atkins and Evi Theodoratou deliver inaugural lectures

Following the professorial procession, Professor David Argyle, Vice-Principal and Head of the College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, welcomed an audience of family, friends, colleagues and members of the public. The evening featured inaugural lectures from both professors, followed by a Q&A session with the audience and a drinks reception.

Professor Katie Atkins

Katie Atkins is Professor of Infectious Disease Epidemiology at the Usher Institute. An evolutionary epidemiologist, she studies how infections spread through populations, how they adapt to the interventions we deploy against them, and how they can best be controlled. Her research combines mathematical modelling with a range of data to address some of the most pressing challenges in public health, including HIV, antimicrobial resistance, and the design of vaccination programmes, with the aim of informing policy and practice.

Lecture

Katie's talk explored how mathematical models, integrated with epidemiological and genomic data, can uncover the transmission dynamics and evolutionary pressures that shape infectious disease. As transmission and evolution largely unfold unobserved, Katie discussed how quantifying them can inform the design and evaluation of interventions, from individual exposure to population-level control.

Professor Evi Theodoratou

Evi Theodoratou is Professor of Cancer Epidemiology and Global Health at the Usher Institute. Her research sits at the intersection of epidemiology, data science and evidence synthesis, with the overarching aim of improving population health through better prevention, diagnosis and treatment of disease. Evi studied at both the University of Thessaloniki and Linköping University before subsequently moving to Scotland to undertake a PhD in Cancer Epidemiology at the University of Edinburgh, where she has built her academic career.

Lecture

Evi's talk discussed her initial studies in Biology and Medical Biology and how these led to further studies in Epidemiology. Following this, Evi provided research examples explaining how she moved from the single exposure - single outcome framework to a framework of multiple exposures - multiple outcomes. Evi also briefly discussed the evidence synthesis work she is leading through UNCOVER and its policy and capacity building impacts.