Edward Parker

Dr. Edward Parker is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology and International Health at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), Faculty of Epidemiology and Population Health. He serves as co-lead of Discipline 1 (Surveillance, Epidemiology, Electronic Health Records Research, Big Data) for the NIHR Health Protection Research Unit in Vaccines and Immunisation at LSHTM, and is co-director of LSHTM's Vaccine Centre.

Dr. Parker's research explores factors influencing the implementation and effectiveness of vaccines. His work harnesses electronic health record data to improve vaccine coverage and drive evidence-based policy in the UK, in collaboration with the UK Health Security Agency. He also collaborates on projects exploring the link between the gut microbiome and oral vaccine response in low-income countries, including a project comparing virome development among newborns in the UK and Malawi funded by a UKRI IMPRINT network pump-priming award. His research spans multiple disciplines including Vaccinology, Epidemiology, Microbiome research, and Data Science.

Dr. Parker led the development of LSHTM's COVID-19 vaccine tracker from April 2020 to August 2022 and served as a consultant for the WHO's Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization in late 2021. His recent publications focus on vaccine safety and effectiveness across diverse populations, with particular attention to pregnancy and childhood immunization, as well as methodological approaches to analyzing electronic health records data. His work often employs systematic review methodologies and leverages large-scale health record datasets.

Among his notable achievements, Dr. Parker was shortlisted and highly commended for the 2014 Max Perutz science writing award. His popular science writing has been published in The Guardian, The Independent, Science-based Medicine and The Conversation.

Dr. Parker teaches across various MSc modules at LSHTM, including Vaccine Immunology, Clinical Virology, and Introduction to Disease Agents and their Control. He serves as a tutor on the Distance Learning Viral Infections module and is a module organiser for the Professional Certificate in Pharmacoepidemiology & Pharmacovigilance. His current research is supported by multiple grants including the NIHR Health Protection Research Unit in Vaccines & Immunisation (2025-2030) and the RfPB Under-represented disciplines and specialisms highlight notice.

Dr. Parker works within the Vaccine Centre at LSHTM, collaborating with researchers across multiple countries including the UK, Malawi, and Gambia, with a focus on Sub-Saharan Africa and Euro area regions. His work bridges laboratory science, epidemiology, and public health policy to improve vaccine implementation globally.