Biography
Prof Kyla Thomas is a Professor in Public Health Medicine at the University of Bristol and Network Director for the National Institute for Health and Care Research South West Central Regional Research Delivery Network (NIHR SWC RRDN). She graduated with MBBS (Distinction) from the University of the West Indies in 2003 before obtaining an MSc by Research in Clinical Epidemiology and MSc Global Health Science (Distinction) from Oxford University on a Commonwealth Caribbean Rhodes scholarship. Prof Thomas was awarded a PhD with Commendation from the University of Bristol in 2014.
Prof Thomas’ main research interests include using pharmacoepidemiological methods to investigate the effectiveness and safety of smoking cessation medicines and e-cigarettes. Her research has informed the risk–benefit analysis of smoking cessation medicines by regulators such as the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and informed NICE public health guidance on smoking cessation. She was the 2019 joint winner of the SSA’s Fred Yates prize for researcher of the year; her research was described as “topical, difficult and neglected due to its complexity”.
Prof Thomas has been a Senior editor for Addiction journal since March 2020; prior to that she was Assistant editor and Associate editor (2016–2020). She is passionate about supporting early career researchers and currently supports with formal mentoring programmes and informal mentoring. She is currently a member of the NIHR Doctoral panel.
Declaration of interests
Kyla is employed as a Professor of Public Health Medicine by the University of Bristol, is Network Director for the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) South West Central Regional Research Delivery Network, and is a Senior Editor for the journal Addiction. Previously, Kyla was an honorary consultant in Public Health at South Gloucestershire Council. Kyla is a member of the British Medical Association and a fellow of the Faculty of Public Health and the Higher Education Academy. Kyla was on an NIHR-funded postdoctoral fellowship until December 2023.
