DPhil Supervision
I have supervised DPhil and MSC graduates for the last 21 years. I currently supervise DPhil projects looking at the role of AI in supporting the management of multiple long-term conditions (MLTC) and the identification of groups at high (health) risk due to extreme temperatures.
My primary research program focuses on managing multiple long-term conditions, the impact of extreme temperatures on health, meta-analysis methods, methodology for studying infectious diseases in children, and assessing complex interventions.
Colleges
News, Media & BLOGS
Rafael Perera
DPhil MSc MA
Director Medical Statistics and Director of Graduate Studies
- Professor of Medical Statistics
- Fellow at St Hugh's College
I am the Director of Graduate Studies in the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences (NDPCHS), tasked with providing academic leadership, oversight, administration and advocacy for the department’s graduate students.
I am also the Director of the Statistics group (NDPCHS), and as part of this role, I am involved in multiple research activities within the department. However, my primary research interest is Monitoring for managing long-term conditions (e.g. Type 2 diabetes, hypertension, etc) individually or jointly (sometimes called multimorbidity).
I lead a large group of methodologists working across multiple clinical areas and have been PI of large Programmes of work and Theme lead for NIHR-funded infrastructure programmes (NIHR BRC, NIHR ARC, and NIHR MIC). I set up the NDPCHS fully accredited Clinical Trials Unit as its original Statistical Director.
I sit on various national and international panels and boards influencing healthcare policy at different levels (funding boards, steering groups, data monitoring boards, etc.) and have held multiple editorial positions. I am a Statistical Editor for the BMJ (since 2011) and BMJ Medicine (since 2022).
I am also the Director of Research Methodologies at the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine (CEBM) and a fellow at St Hugh’s College Oxford.
Recent publications
Diagnostic Implications of Multi-Cancer Early Detection Testing in the Investigation of Cancer Symptoms: An Exploratory Retrospective Analysis of the SYMPLIFY Study.
Journal article
Jackson A. et al, (2026), Lancet Reg Health Eur, 66
Predicting referral need for febrile children in low-resource community settings in South and Southeast Asia.
Journal article
Chandna A. et al, (2026), Nat Med
Impact of structured medication reviews on prescribing in English Primary Care.
Journal article
Sheppard J. et al, (2026), Br J Gen Pract
Decision Analytic Models to Assess the Cost-Effectiveness of Prevention, Detection, and Treatment in Multiple Long-Term Conditions: A Scoping Review.
Journal article
Tahsina T. et al, (2026), Value Health, 29, 605 - 622
Re-evaluating routinely collected clinical and laboratory parameters in the preoperative risk assessment of intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms: model development and internal validation.
Journal article
Hidalgo Salinas C. et al, (2026), Pancreatology
Current Grants
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
NIHR Programme grant for applied research: CoMPuTE: Complex Multimorbidity Phenotypes, Trends, and Endpoints. Start 01/06/2023, End: 31/05/2028.
co-applicant
NIHR Research and Innovation for Global Health Transformation A Novel Extreme Weather Risk Insurance System for Kenya (NEWRISK): Encouraging preparedness, planning, community co-design, and protection of Kenya’s health system from the effects of extreme weather. Start 01/01/2024, End: 31/12/2027
NIHR-Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust-HRC. Start 01/04/2024, End 31/03/2029
MRC. UKRI Ageing Dev Research Award, Person-centred Integrated Care (PIC) Networks supporting Healthy Ageing in Place. Start 30/09/2023, End: 29/09/2025
NIHR Applied Research Collaboration. Start: 01/10/19, End: 30/09/24