Dr Kirsty Loudon

Biography

I started working in the Aberdeen Centre for Evaluation (ACE), in the Knowledge Synthesis Programme on the 1st June 2026. I am involved in health technology evaluations of diagnostic tests, and evidence synthesis of healthcare interventions as well as public health interventions, collaborating with health statisticians, health economists and experts in the field. I enjoy working with people who share my enthusiasm to create high quality, trustworthy evidence, to find answers to important questions, that will make a difference to individuals. Key is a high level of methodological rigour and responding to tight deadlines.

My involvement in evidence synthesis started in 1997, when I began working for Cochrane, four years after the Collaboration was founded, at the Norwegian Branch of the Nordic Cochrane Centre. My last job with Cochrane was as an Editor on the Conflict of Interest (COI) Project.  Throughout my career I have been involved in evidence synthesis, both qualitative and quantitative reviews. In intervening years, I have also worked as a nurse and lecturer teaching nursing students. My proudest achievement was graduating with a DPhil from Dundee (2016) developing the PRECIS-2 tool to help design randomised controlled trials (RCTs) that truly answer the question being posed; the tool has also been developed to assess the trials included in systematic reviews.

As a mixed methods researcher, I have worked in the USA, Norway, UK and Ireland, collaborating with international teams in English and Norwegian.  I believe it is important to make health evidence accessible to inform healthcare decisions; past work has involved developing patient versions of clinical guidelines so hope to work with the ACE Public Involvement Partnership Group.

Outside of work, I love the outdoors volunteering for the British Trust of Ornithology to do bird surveys, locally and in the mountains of Scotland. I love walking my dog, playing tennis, golf and spending time with my family.

Prizes and Awards

2017                  Scottish Crucible Leadership & Development Programme (www.ScottishCrucible.org.uk)

2015                   Impact Fellow (University of Stirling, UK)

2013                   Dowe Travel Grant 2nd Sackett Symposium, Niagara Falls (University of Dundee, UK)

2013                   2nd Year Poster Prize Student Symposium (University of Dundee, UK)

1995                   Oak Ridge Fellow (Centres for Disease Control, USA)