Dr Jennifer Summers

Biography

Dr Jennifer Summers is an Epidemiologist, Medical Statistician and Medical Historian, trained in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Her work focuses on epidemiology, pandemic preparedness, and the application of medical statistics to public health challenges, with particular expertise in infectious diseases, including COVID-19 and influenza pandemics.

She has held academic and research roles at King’s College London (within the Medical Statistics Unit and the King’s Technology Evaluation Centre) and the University of Otago, where she contributed to the Health Environment & Infection Research Unit and the Burden of Disease Epidemiology, Equity and Cost-Effectiveness Programme. Her work spans clinical & registry trials, disease modelling, and large-scale epidemiological analyses.

Dr Summers has extensive experience in teaching and supervision at undergraduate and postgraduate level, alongside providing statistical consultancy to clinical and academic teams. She has contributed to over 200 research outputs, including peer-reviewed publications, reports, and policy-relevant briefings, with her work informing national and international public health policy.

From 2013 to 2019, she served as an independent representative for the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) in the UK, contributing to evidence-based healthcare guidance and medical technology assessments. Her research has played a role in shaping health policy and pandemic response strategies in multiple settings.

Prizes and Awards

• Awarded 'Top Cited Article 2021-2022' in Wiley for: Grout L, Katar A, Ait Ouakrim D, Summers JA, Kvalsvig A, Baker MG, Blakely T, Wilson N. Failures of quarantine systems for preventing COVID-19 outbreaks in Australia and New Zealand. Med J Aust. 2021;215:320-4.
• Awarded 'Best Research Paper of 2021' at University of Otago, Wellington for: Summers J, Cheng H-Y, Lin H-H, Telfar Barnard L, Kvalsvig A, Wilson N, Baker MG. 2020. Potential lessons from the Taiwan and New Zealand health responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. Lancet Regional Health: Western Pacific. 4, 100044.

Funding and Grants

Select Grants:

• Understanding key epidemiological features of the Covid-19 pandemic in New Zealand to improve the response. 2022, Ministry of Health – Manatū Hauora: Wellington, New Zealand. Summers J, Harwood M, Baker M, Plank M, French N, Simpson C, Bunce M, Nghiem N, Kvalsvig A, Zhang J.
• Identifying determinants of success in the COVID-19 response among high-income island jurisdictions. 2021, Otago University, New Zealand: Wellington, New Zealand. Co-Principal Investigator. Wilson N, Summers J, Kvalsvig A.
• King’s Technology Evaluation Centre (KiTEC). External Assessment Centres Tender, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), United Kingdom
• King’s Technology Evaluation Centre (KiTEC). External Assessment Centres Tender, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), United Kingdom
• Research Design Service Fellowship, 2019. Kings College London, United Kingdom

Teaching Responsibilities

• Lecturer: Aberdeen Short Course in Epidemiology
• Co-Course Coordinator: PU5030, PU5036, QH5003 Epidemiology
• Co-Course Coordinator: PU5538 Epidemiology
• Tutor: MBChB Student Selected Component II & III
• University of Aberdeen Personal Tutor
• Marker: PU5030 Epidemiology (from 2024) and PU5922 Masters Research Project
• Established Postgraduate Group for students in the Health Environment & Infection Research Unit at Otago University (2022-2024)
• Master’s Supervisor and Assessor, King’s College London and Otago University (2018-2023)
• Statistical and General Grant Advisor, National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Research Design Service (2013-2019)
• Lecturer and tutor for Master of Public Health for ‘Basic Epidemiology & Statistics for Public Health’, ‘Further Epidemiology and Statistics for Public Health’, King's College London (2016-2019) including ‘Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis’ and R/STATA for ‘Survival Analysis’, ‘Linear Regression’, and ‘Logistic Regression’
• Tutor and assessor for Master of Public Health for ‘Population Health, Epidemiology and Biostatistics’, and ‘Public Health and Primary Care Dissertation’, King's College London (2016-2019)
• Tutor and Assessor for MBBS 1st and 2nd year for ‘Genes, Behaviour and Environment’, and 'Clinical Epidemiology', King's College London (2023-2019)
• Curriculum Design and Assessor for Master of Health Sciences, King’s College London (2018-2019)
• Statistical Consultant, Guy's Hospital, Kings College Hospital and King's College London (2023-2019)

Non-course Teaching Responsibilities

Public lectures

• School of Medicine, Medical Sciences, and Nutrition, Lunch & Learn Series
• Wilson N, Summers J, Baker M, Invited speaker: Lessons in Covid-19 control from New Zealand – with some comparisons to other high-income island jurisdictions (including Iceland and Taiwan) at Taiwan National University, 2023, Taipei, Taiwan.
• Summers J, Invited speaker for Q&A Panel, in Pandemics: Can we learn the lessons of History? 2015, NZ-UK Link Foundation: Imperial War Museum, London, United Kingdom.