Advancing health equity: epidemiological modelling to guide inclusive public health decision making.

Health inequalities persist globally and are often driven by a complex interplay of biological and social determinants of health. These often manifest as disproportionate disease burden amongst certain population subgroups. Organisations are committed to reducing disease burden and reinforce policies to maximise health equity but understanding and quantifying disparities is often neglected. COVID-19, like previous pandemics, differentially affected males and females. I plan to conduct a comprehensive analysis to explore sex inequality in England, particularly focusing on the sex differences across diseases and health domains that are relevant to COVID-19 vulnerability and toxicity. Health inequalities often widen during humanitarian crises and infectious disease outbreaks, as vulnerable populations often face disproportionate risk and access to care barriers. However, modelling used to support public health decision-making in these settings rarely account for factors that drive health inequalities. In these settings, disease transmission, risk and mortality can rapidly shift so I plan to develop equity-focused modelling frameworks that can provide timely, evidence-based predictions that are tailored to the needs of different population subgroups and shifting epidemiological contexts. This research aims to apply equity-focused quantitative methods and modelling to reduce health inequalities and support public health decision making in England and humanitarian settings.