School of Medicine staff recognised by RSE for work on COVID-19 study
On 31 March, the Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) awarded the RSE Mary Sommerville Medal to the EAVE II team. Led by the University of Edinburgh and funded by the Medical Research Council, the EAVE II project brought together academics, data scientists, public health experts, and public members from across the UK to track the spread of COVID-19 in Scotland. Drawing on data from all 5.4 million people – 98% of the Scottish population – registered with a GP, the study also monitored COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness. Data from the EAVE Surveillance Platform played a key role in shaping both the Scottish and UK governments’ pandemic responses.
Among those who contributed to the project were several School of Medicine staff members, including Professor Colin McCowan, Dr Amaya Azcoaga-Lorenzo, Dr Utkarsh Agrawal, Dr Adeniyi Fagbamigbe and Dr Josie Murray. Dr Murray, who worked on EAVE II in her capacity as a Consultant in Public Health, has now joined the School as a Clinical Research Fellow in the Multimorbidity Doctoral Training Programme for Health Professionals. Dr Ben Swallow of the School of Mathematics and Statistics was also involved in the study. The group is thrilled that the EAVE II team has been acknowledged by the RSE.
Responding to news of the award, Professor Colin McCowan, Head of the Population and Behavioural Science Research Division said: “We were delighted that the Royal Society of Edinburgh has recognised the work undertaken by the EAVE II team to better understand the COVID-19 pandemic in Scotland and to help inform the response to it.
Since 2020 we have worked with colleagues from the Universities of Edinburgh, Strathclyde, Glasgow and Aberdeen and Public Health Scotland in a Scotland wide collaborative to examine the direct impact of the pandemic, its knock-on effect on disruption to other health services and also the effectiveness of the vaccine rollout campaign. This work has helped inform policymakers in Scotland, the rest of the UK and the wider international community.”
Read the full story on the University news page.