Professor Ruth Jepson

Area lead

Ruth is Director of SCPHRP and a Reader in Public Health in the School of Health in Social Science, University of Edinburgh. Ruth has been involved in many different aspects of public health research for over 20 years.  After completing her MSc in the Department of Public Health Sciences at the University of Edinburgh, she spent over 10 years in the Cochrane Collaboration as a Review Group Co-ordinator,  as a reviewer and on many of the Committees. She also worked at the NHS Centre for Reviews and Dissemination in York University. She returned to the University of Edinburgh to undertake her PhD on developing a measure of informed choice in cancer screening.  Prior her role in SCPHRP, she was at the of Stirling University where she was Co-Director of the Centre for Population and Public Health and Lead for the Physical Activity and Diet Research Programme.

Her methodological expertise is in systematic reviews, and developing and evaluating complex public health interventions. Her current research interests are broad, but has a specific interest in promoting health and wellbeing in the outdoor environment.  She is particularly interested in undertaking research in partnership with service providers and users. She is currently Principal Investigator on a NIHR funded grant to evaluate 20mph speed limits in Edinburgh and Belfast.