Profile
I joined the Centre for Primary Care in the Wolfson Institute of Population Health as a senior researcher in medical statistics in 2025. I have previously worked at the Universities of Nottingham, Oxford and Southampton. I am a medical statistician and epidemiologist with a background in Mathematics and Biostatistics.
I have extensive experience of using a wide range of different methods and study designs to answer a variety of research questions, with a focus on the design and analysis of studies based in primary care, including large epidemiological studies using electronic health databases, such as QResearch. My particular interests are in the development and validation of risk prediction models and the assessment of risks and benefits of medications, including the safety of medications in pregnancy.
Research
Research Interests:
I carry out research into the development and evaluation of risk prediction algorithms for predicting disease risk, and have developed risk scores such as QRISK and QDiabetes, which are widely used across the NHS and recommended in NICE guidelines. My research also includes several pharmacoepidemiological studies into the safety and benefits associated with commonly prescribed medications, such as antidepressants, anticholinergic drugs, HRT and statins which have influenced clinical practice.
Publications
Julia Hippisley-Cox, Carol Coupland. Development and external validation of new cancer risk algorithms to improve early diagnosis of cancer in 12.8 million people in primary care. Nature Communications: 2025;16:3660.
Julia Hippisley-Cox, Carol Coupland, Mona Bafadhel, Richard E. K. Russell, Aziz Sheikh, Peter Brindle, Keith M. Channon. Development and validation of a new algorithm for improved cardiovascular risk prediction. Nature Medicine 2024;30:1440–1447.
Julia Hippisley-Cox, Kamlesh Khunti, Aziz Sheikh, Jonathan S Nguyen-Van-Tam, Carol AC Coupland. Predicting risk of death or hospitalisation from COVID-19 in adults testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 infection during the Omicron wave in England (QCOVID4): cohort study. BMJ 2023; 381: e072976.
Christopher Hawkey, Anthony Avery, Carol Coupland, et al. Helicobacter pylori eradication for primary prevention of peptic ulcer bleeding in older patients prescribed aspirin in primary care (HEAT): a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Lancet 2022; 400: 1597-1606
Julia Hippisley-Cox, Martina Patone, Xue W Mei, Pui Tan, Defne Saatci, Sharon Dixon, Kamlesh Khunti, Francesco Zaccardi, Peter Watkinson, Manu Shankar-Hari, James Doidge, David A Harrison, Simon J Griffin, Aziz Sheikh, Carol AC Coupland. Risk of thrombocytopenia and thromboembolism after covid-19 vaccination and SARS-CoV-2 positive testing: self-controlled case series study. BMJ 2021; 374: n1931. doi:10.1136/bmj.n1931.
Hippisley-Cox J, Coupland CA, Mehta N, Keogh R H, Diaz-Ordaz K, Khunti K et al. Risk prediction of covid-19 related death and hospital admission in adults after covid-19 vaccination: national prospective cohort study. BMJ 2021; 374: n2244 doi:10.1136/bmj.n2244.
Ashley K Clift, Carol A Coupland, Ruth H Keogh, et al. Living risk prediction algorithm (QCOVID) for risk of hospital admission and mortality from coronavirus 19 in adults: national derivation and validation cohort study. BMJ 2020;371:m3731.
Yana Vinogradova, Carol Coupland, Julia Hippisley-Cox. Use of hormone replacement therapy and risk of breast cancer: nested case-control studies using the QResearch and CPRD databases. BMJ 2020; 371: m3873.
Carol Coupland, Trevor Hill, Tom Dening, Richard Morriss, Michael Moore, Julia Hippisley-Cox. Anticholinergic drug exposure and the risk of dementia: nested case-control study. JAMA Internal Medicine 2019;179(8):1084-1093.