Professor Matthew Hickman
B.Sc.(Lanc.), M.Sc.(Aberd.), Ph.D.(Lond.)
Current positions
Professor in Public Health and Epidemiology
Epidemiology and Health Data Science
Contact
Press and media
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Research interests
I am co-director with Charles Beck (UK Health Security Agency) and Katy Turner (UK Health Security Agency Health England) of the NIHR Health Protection Research Unit in Evaluation and Behavioural Science and a member and co-investigator of NIHR School of Public Health Research and DeCIPHER (UKCRC Public Health Centre of Excellence for the Development and Evaluation of Complex Interventions for Public Health Improvement).
My research programme focuses on infectious disease control and the epidemiology and public health consequences of drug use – with active research grants on prevention of Hepatitis C Virus, drug related mortality, and alcohol related harms.
Projects and supervisions
Research projects
DIALS – DIAgnosis of Liver diseaSe in primary care
Principal Investigator
Role
Co-Investigator
Description
Plain English Summary of Research:
Background to the study:
Liver disease is a major problem, especially in people under 65 years. It often develops without showing any symptoms, over many years. People…Managing organisational unit
Bristol Medical School (PHS)Dates
02/11/2026 to 01/12/2031
Bath Mental Health Research Group
Principal Investigator
Role
Principal Investigator
Managing organisational unit
Bristol Medical School (PHS)Dates
01/09/2024 to 31/08/2029
ALSPAC Renewal 2024 to 2029
Principal Investigator
Role
Co-Principal Investigator
Managing organisational unit
Bristol Medical School (PHS)Dates
01/08/2024 to 31/07/2029
Evaluating supervised opioid antagonist treatment consumption
Principal Investigator
Description
Opioid Agonist Treatment (OAT) is used to treat people who are dependent on opioids – usually heroin. Opioids are also a type of drug commonly used in medicine to relieve…Managing organisational unit
Bristol Medical School (PHS)Dates
01/01/2024 to 30/06/2025
8539 (MRN) Opioid overdose deaths: Understanding the lethal interactions between benzodiazepines and opioids to develop new harm reduction strategies (MRC MR/W029162/1)
Principal Investigator
Managing organisational unit
Dates
01/07/2022 to 31/03/2026
Thesis supervisions
Investigating glassware as a choice architecture intervention to reduce alcohol consumption
Supervisors
Investigating the epidemiology of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in different settings around the world
Supervisors
Suicide prevention in clinical populations with substance use problems
Supervisors
“Holding on by the Seat of Their Pants” A Mixed Methods Exploration of Retention, Completion and Recovery in Opioid Substitution Treatment
Supervisors
Quantifying the neurophysiological effects of 5-HT2A receptor activation on cortico-limbic and cortico-striatal network dynamics in rats
Supervisors
Understanding the Epidemiology of Hepatitis C Virus in Ethiopia
Supervisors
Using mathematical modelling to investigate the impact of interventions for preventing transmission of HIV and other blood-borne viruses among people who inject drugs
Supervisors
Investigating the Relationship between Anxiety and Alcohol Use
Supervisors
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in young adults
Supervisors
Mapping associations between early life adversity and alcohol use disorder through human epidemiology and rat neurobiology
Supervisors
An epidemiological evaluation of targeted HPV vaccination for gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM) in England
Supervisors
Surveillance of lower respiratory tract infections within UK care homes, in the context of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.
Supervisors
Publications
Recent publications
23/10/2026GLP-1 Receptor Agonists (GLP-1RAs) for treatment of tobacco and alcohol dependence: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials
‘Can I keep myself safe?’ in a system lacking support: a qualitative study on overdose risk perceptions by people who co-use benzodiazepine receptor agonists and opioids
Addiction
Cohort Profile: Scotland’s Substance Use and Health Intelligence Linked Dataset (SHIeLD)
International Journal of Epidemiology
Corrigendum to "Optimal provision of opioid agonist therapy (OAT) and needle and syringe programmes (NSP): a realist evaluation" [International Journal of Drug Policy, Volume 150, April 2026, 105174]
The International journal on drug policy
Cost-effectiveness of emergency department opt-out testing for HIV in England: a modelling study
Lancet HIV
Related people
Professor Peter Vickerman
Professor of Infectious Disease Modelling
Epidemiology and Health Data Science
Dr Jo Kesten
Senior Research Fellow
Epidemiology and Health Data Science
Dr Jack Stone
Associate Professor in Infectious Disease Mathematical Modelling
Epidemiology and Health Data Science
Dr Hannah Family
Honorary Research Fellow
Epidemiology and Health Data Science
Dr Gabriele Vojt
Senior Research Associate
Epidemiology and Health Data Science