Daniel R. R.Bradford
I am a public health researcher at the University of Glasgow, completing a PhD on child health. My work is about health inequities which are differences in health that are avoidable, unfair, and unjust. I also work part-time as a support worker with people who have learning disabilities. I came to public health from engineering via psychology. I have always been interested in how things work and how that understanding can be used to support people to live well.
Avoidable health differences.
My PhD uses linked NHS Scotland data to look at the health of young children in state care and not in care. Specifically, it quantifies how the prevalence and distribution of physical and psychosocial health concerns vary with area-level deprivation. My other research includes inequalities in mortality in the UK, the relationship between sleep disturbance and suicide, and student mental health. A list of my research outputs is available here.
Data, evidence and methods.
My core research skills include:
- Analysing linked population-level administrative datasets
- Synthesising evidence through systematic and scoping reviews
- Analysing survey data
- Conducting mediation analysis
- Programming in R and RStudio
Elsewhere online.
CV download coming soon.
ORCID · Power of 10 · ResearchGate · University of Glasgow profile
Get in touch.
Selected papers.
Bradford, D., Brown, D., McCartney, G., Douglas, M., Dundas, R., & Walsh, D. (2026). Excess mortality in England and Scotland in 2022: The long shadow of austerity and the return to an unacceptable pre-pandemic baseline. Journal of Critical Public Health, 3(2), 57–76. https://doi.org/10.55016/8kkpa186
Bradford, D. R. R., Allik, M., McMahon, A. D., & Brown, D. (2023). Assessing the risk of endogeneity bias in health and mortality inequalities research using composite measures of multiple deprivation which include health-related indicators: A case study using the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation and population health and mortality data. Health & Place, 80, Article 102998. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2023.102998
Gardani, M., Bradford, D. R. R., Russell, K., Allan, S., Beattie, L., Ellis, J. G., & Akram, U. (2022). A systematic review and meta-analysis of poor sleep, insomnia symptoms and stress in undergraduate students. Sleep Medicine Reviews, 61, Article 101565. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smrv.2021.101565
A scenic route to public health research.
I began with an undergraduate degree in Aeronautical Engineering at the University of Glasgow. After working as an aerodynamicist at the Aircraft Research Association, I swerved pretty dramatically away from engineering. I upped sticks, moved back to Glasgow and began volunteering at cycling charities and working with children and young adults with a range of additional support needs. That took me into disability support work, which I continue to do.
A return to study in 2018 for an MSc in Psychological Sciences led to a great experience researching sleep, suicide and student mental health with Dr Kirsten Russell and Prof Stefanie Biello. A final step into public health then led me to a PhD at the MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit at the University of Glasgow. My PhD has been supervised by Dr Denise Brown, Prof Alex McMahon, Prof Alastair Leyland and Dr Mirjam Allik. Since the Unit's closure I have been based in the School of Health and Wellbeing.
I also chair the UK & Ireland Public Health Science Conference. It has been an incredible opportunity to support fantastic, talented public health practitioners and researchers, and to bring people together from across the public health community.
Outside work I am a competitive runner with Shettleston Harriers, racing the 1500m in the summer and the 10k for the rest of the year, body permitting. I also go to a lot of live music and DJ. None of this is relevant to my work, but it keeps me well-rounded.
