Dr Emma Beard

Lecturer (Teaching) in Statistics and Quantitative Methods

Epidemiology & Public Health

Institute of Epidemiology & Health

Joined UCL: 1st Feb 2008

Research summary

Dr Emma Beard has a particular interest in statistical methodology, which includes time series analysis, Bayesian analysis and advanced regression methodologies. Her research focuses on the analysis of large data sets, but she has also worked on interventions, meta-analyses, qualitative studies and smaller community based surveys. Her current work involves the analysis of data from the Smoking and Alcohol Toolkit Studies, which are population surveys of adults aged 16+. She has over 130 publications on a variety of topics, with a key focus on tobacco harm reduction, high-risk alcohol consumption and statistical methodology.

Teaching summary

Dr Emma Beard has taught on:

Tobacco Control Modules at the UKCTCs
MSc Cancer Studies at UCL
MSc Health Psychology at UCL
MSc Preventative Cardiology at Imperial College London
MSc Preventative Cardiology at the National University of Ireland
BSc Psychology at UCL
MSc Language Studies at UCL
MSc Dental Public Health
BSc Psychology at UCL
BSc Population Health at UCL
MSc Health Psychology at KCL

She has convened modules in Clinical and Health Psychology and advanced statistical methods for the MSc in Language Studies and MSc in Health Psychology at UCL. She currently teaches on the Masters in Public Health at UCL where she convenes the modules "Statistics for Public Health" and "Applied Quantitative Methods for Public Health".

Education

King's College London: Other higher degree, Master of Science | 2014
Institute of Education: Other Postgraduate qualification (including professional), Certificate in Learning and Teaching | 2013
University College London: Doctorate, Doctor of Philosophy | 2011
King's College London: Other higher degree, Master of Science | 2008
University of Bristol: First Degree, Bachelor of Science | 2007

Biography

After completing her BSc in Experimental Psychology and MSc in Health Psychology, Dr Emma Beard was awarded her PhD in 2011 from the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London (UCL). She subsequently undertook an MSc in Medical Statistics and was awarded Graduate Statistician Status in 2014. The same year she was awarded a fellowship from the NIHR SPHR. She subsequently worked as a Senior and Principal Research Fellow across two departments (Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology and Behavioural Science and Health) at UCL. In 2022, she was appointed as a Lecturer in Statistics for the Masters in Public Health and also currently teaches across a number of MSc and BSc courses in psychology and behavioural science. Dr Emma Beard is a deputy statistics and methodology advisor for Addiction. Dr Emma Beard has previosuly sat on several boards at the British Psychology Society (BPS), which acts as a representative body for psychology and psychologists in the UK. She played a role in the establishment of the Alcohol Toolkit Study, a major national alcohol use surveillance survey which is a collaboration between seven different institutions. Dr Emma Beard has provided expert input and advice to policy makers such as the All Party Parliamentary Groups, Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID), Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).