Dr Emily Petherick

PhD, MSc, AFBPS, B App Sci (Physical Education), MPH

  • Senior Lecturer in Epidemiology & Biostatistics

Emily has an undergraduate degree in Applied Science (Physical Education) from Victoria University (Melbourne) and a master's in Public Health (MPH) from the University of Melbourne, majoring in Epidemiology and Biostatistics. Whilst undertaking her master's, she worked as a Research Assistant at the Centre for Clinical Effectiveness at Monash University (Melbourne). She then moved to the University of York, working as a Research Fellow in the Department of Health Sciences before obtaining an NIHR fellowship to complete her PhD in the same department. She then gained a post as a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Leeds before moving to the Bradford Institute of Health Research as a Senior Epidemiologist, in both cases working on the Born in Bradford study: a multi-ethnic birth cohort.

Emily joined the School of Sport, Exercise and Health in 2015 as a Lecturer in Epidemiology & Biostatistics and was appointed as a Senior Lecturer in Epidemiology & Biostatistics in 2019.

Emily is interested in how routine sources of data can be used alongside cohort data to facilitate development of epidemiological evidence and also the improvement of statistical methods to undertake such analyses. Specific areas of research interest include childhood growth and obesity, social, economic and ethnic differences in health, and data linkage between research data and routine health and administrative data for research. She has methodological interests in longitudinal data analysis, specifically cohort data and routine medical data such as primary care data.

  • Editorial board member, British Journal of Nutrition 2014
  • Member of the Scientific Advisory Group, Born in Bradford study
  • Reviewer, The Health Improvement Network (THIN) primary care database

Featured publications

  • Petherick ES, Pickett KE, Cullum NA (2015). Can different primary care databases produce comparable estimates of burden of disease: Results of a study exploring venous leg ulceration. Family Practice doi: 10.1093/fampra/cmv013.
  • Fairley L, Santorelli G, Lawlor DA, Bryant MJ, Bhopal R, Petherick ES, Sahota P, Greenwood DC, Hill AJ, Cameron N, Ball HL, Barber S, Wright J (2015). The relationship between early life modifiable risk factors for childhood obesity, ethnicity and body mass index at age 3 years. BMC Obesity 2015, 2:9  doi:10.1186/s40608-015-0037-5.
  • Schembari A, de Hoogh K, Pedersen M, Dadvand P, Martinez D, Hoek G, Petherick ES, Wright J, Nieuwenhuijsen M (2015). Ambient Air Pollution and Newborn’s Size at Birth: Differences by Maternal Ethnicity – Results from the Born in Bradford Study Cohort. Environmental Health Perspectives doi: 10.1289/ehp.1408675.
  • Mebrahtu T, Feltbower R, Petherick ES, Parslow R (2014). Growth patterns of White British and Pakistani children in the Born in Bradford cohort: a latent growth modelling approach. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health doi:10.1136/jech-2014-204571.
  • Petherick ES, Tuffnell D, Wright J (2014). Experiences and outcomes of maternal Ramadan fasting during pregnancy: results from a sub-cohort of the Born in Bradford birth cohort study. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth 14:335 doi:10.1186/1471-2393-14-335.
  • Petherick ES, Goran MI, Wright J (2014). Relationship between artificially sweetened and sugar sweetened cola beverage consumption during pregnancy and pre term birth: Evidence from the Born in Bradford cohort study. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition68(3):404-7.
  • Howe LD, Tilling K, Matijasevich A, Petherick ES, Santos AC, Fairley L, Wright J, Santos IS, Barros AJD, Martin RM, Kramer MS, Bogdanovich N, Matush L, Barros H, Lawlor DA (2013). Linear spline multilevel models: application to five birth cohorts.Statistical Methods in Medical Research doi:10.1177/0962280213503925
  • Fairley L, Petherick ES, Howe LD, Tilling K, Cameron N, West J, Lawlor DA, Wright J (2013). Describing differences in growth trajectories between White and Pakistani Infants in the UK: Analysis of the Born in Bradford birth cohort study using multilevel linear spline models. Archives of Disease in Childhood 98: 274-9.
  • Sheridan E, Wright J, Small N, Corry P, Oddie S, Whibley C, Petherick ES, Malik T, Pawson N, McKinney P, Parslow R (2013). Congenital anomalies in Bradford: findings from the Born in Bradford birth cohort study. The Lancet 382:1350-9.
  • Wright J, Small N, Raynor P, Tuffnell D, Bhopal R, Cameron N, Fairley L, Lawlor D, Parslow R, Petherick ES, Pickett K, West J, Waiblinger D (2013) Cohort Profile: The Born In Bradford multiethnic family cohort study. International Journal of Epidemiology 42:978-991.