Dr Rachael Wood
Consultant in Public Health Medicine, Honorary Reader

Address
- Street
-
Public Health Scotland
Gyle Square
1 South Gyle Crescent - City
- Post code
- EH12 9EB
Background
Dr Wood works across the NHS and the University of Edinburgh. Within the NHS, Dr Wood is a Consultant in Public Health Medicine in Public Health Scotland. Within the University, she is an Honorary Reader in the Usher Institute.
Within Public Health Scotland, Dr Wood focuses on maternal and child health, and is inaugural director of Scotland's national congenital anomaly register (CARDRISS). Her role involves development of national data, overseeing national statistics publications, providing information to support health policy and service development and evaluation, and supporting the use of Public Health Scotland data for research purposes.
Within the University, Dr Wood conducts research on maternal and child public health. She has particular topic interests in congenital anomalies and child development. She has particular methodological interests in the use of routine administrative data for research.
Prior to her current roles, Dr Wood held a CSO Clinical Academic Training Fellowship at the University of Edinburgh from 2007 to 2011. During her fellowship she undertook a PhD examining changes made to Scotland’s child health programme in 2005. Dr Wood graduated in Medicine from the University of Edinburgh in 1993.
Qualifications
Bachelor of Science, University of Edinburgh
Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery, University of Edinburgh
Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, DTM&H
Diploma in Child Health, DCH
Diploma of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists
Master of Public Health, University of Glasgow
Membership of the Faculty of Public Health, MFPH
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), University of Edinburgh. Changing child health surveillance in Scotland: an exploration of the impact on preventive health care of pre-school children.
Responsibilities & affiliations
Fellow of the Faculty of Public Health
Fellow of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health
Open to PhD supervision enquiries?
Yes
Research summary
Dr Wood’s research focuses on maternal and child public health. She has particular topic interests in congenital anomalies and child development. She has particular methodological interests in the use of routine administrative data for research.
Affiliated research centres
Research activities
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Impact of regulatory safety notices on valproate prescribing and pregnancy outcome among women of child-bearing potential in Scotland: a population-based cohort study
In:
BMJ Open, vol. 12, pp. e058312
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2021-058312
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (E-pub ahead of print) -
Prematurity, delivery method and infant feeding type are not associated with paediatric-onset inflammatory bowel disease risk: A Scottish retrospective birth cohort study
In:
Journal of Crohn's and Colitis
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/ecco-jcc/jjac031
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Uptake of infant and preschool immunisations in Scotland and England during the COVID-19 pandemic: An observational study of routinely collected data
In:
PLoS Medicine, vol. 19, pp. e1003916
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1003916
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Investigating the uptake, effectiveness and safety of COVID-19 vaccines: protocol for an observational study using linked UK national data
In:
BMJ Open, vol. 12, pp. e050062
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2021-050062
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Author Correction: SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 vaccination rates in pregnant women in Scotland
In:
Nature Medicine
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-022-01730-5
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (E-pub ahead of print)