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Professor Anjum Memon

Prof Anjum Memon

Professor Anjum Memon (MBBS, DPhil [Oxon], MFPH, FFPH)

Chair in Epidemiology and Public Health Medicine
E: A.Memon@bsms.ac.uk
Location: Watson Building, University of Brighton, Falmer, Brighton, BN1 9PH

Honorary Consultant in Public Health Medicine (Office for Health Improvement & Disparities [OHID], Department of Health & Social Care [DHSC], England) 

DA: Sonia Khan
PrimaryCareDA@bsms.ac.uk

Area of Expertise: Epidemiology and Public Health

Research Areas:

  • Cancer epidemiology (aetiology, prevention and early diagnosis of cancer)
  • Cancer registration (data collection, coding, quality assurance, analysis)
  • Mental health and wellbeing (mental and behavioural disorders, suicide prevention)
  • Global health and NCDs (e.g. diabetes, CVD, Autism Spectrum Disorder)

Other Positions:

  • Director of studies in Epidemiology and Public Health Medicine (BSMS)
  • Honorary Titles Sub-Committee (BSMS)
  • Chair of the Health and Social Care Sponsorship Sub-Committee (University of Sussex)
  • Board Member for SE England (Faculty of Public Health)
  • Board Member (SE School of Public Health)
  • Educational Supervisor for PH trainees (KSS School of Public Health)
  • Regional Clinical Specialist Lead for Revalidation Appraisals (DHSC)
  • External Examiner (King’s College London)
  • Associate Editor – Cancer Epidemiology (British Journal of Cancer Reports)
  • International Scientific Committee (European Public Health Association)
BACKGROUND IMAGE FOR PANEL

Biography

Professor Anjum Memon is an award winning, medically qualified cancer epidemiologist and public health academic, recognised by the Faculty of Public Health of the Royal Colleges of Physicians of the UK for his outstanding contribution to the advancement of public health science. He trained in epidemiology at the world-leading Cancer Epidemiology Unit at the University of Oxford, under the supervision of Professor Sir Richard Doll FRS – the eminent epidemiologist who first identified the major health hazards of smoking.

Prof Memon joined BSMS in 2005, having previously held academic positions at the Universities of Oxford, Kuwait and Cambridge. He is a Fellow of the Faculty of Public Health of the Royal Colleges of Physicians of the UK and an Honorary Consultant in Public Health Medicine.  

Alongside his teaching, research, and public health academic work, he contributes extensively to capacity-building, training, and quality assurance activities. His professional roles have included serving as a Faculty Assessor for consultant appointments; Part A MFPH Examiner; Appraiser for consultants and GMC revalidation; Academic Supervisor for public health trainees and junior doctors; and External Examiner at the Universities of Cambridge, London, Manchester, and Oxford. He also chaired the Organising Committee for the 57th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Society for Social Medicine & Population Health (SSM&PH) and served as Director of the Kuwait Cancer Registry.   

Research

Epidemiology is the art and science of reducing the risk of cancer (and other chronic diseases) and promoting health and wellbeing across populations. It forms the foundation of public health and clinical practice by generating the evidence needed to prevent disease, protect health, restore function, and address broader population health challenges. 

Epidemiology describes the occurrence of health-related states and events (incidence, prevalence), quantifies the risk of disease (relative risk, attributable risk, odds ratios) and its outcomes (prognosis, survival, mortality), and develops and evaluates causal hypotheses to understand disease aetiology and inform prevention.

Prof Memon has an extensive portfolio of research and scholarship in epidemiology and academic public health. He has authored more than 200 scientific publications (peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, systematic reviews/meta-analyses, public health strategies/reports, chapters in IARC/WHO scientific monographs, and conference abstracts/presentations). 

Prof Memon has expertise in clinical, epidemiological, public health, and health services research. His experience spans the full research cycle, including data collection, coding, management, statistical analysis, interpretation, report writing, and publication. His work has addressed a broad range of diseases, conditions, and public health challenges, with a strong emphasis on cancer epidemiology and chronic disease prevention. His research has been published in The Lancet, The BMJ, and Nature group of journals.

His current research is focused on elucidating cause-and-effect relationships and analysing cancer incidence trends to generate and refine aetiological hypotheses – particularly for early-onset cancers. This work aims to raise awareness of emerging patterns and inform public health and clinical policy/practice to strengthen primary and secondary prevention.

BACKGROUND IMAGE FOR PANEL

Teaching

Anjum leads the teaching of epidemiology and public health medicine at BSMS. He leads curriculum development (as core and interdisciplinary vertical theme), teaching and assessment of the discipline in the Five-year BM BS undergraduate programme. 

He teaches epidemiological concepts and study designs to medical and postgraduate students, clinicians and allied health professionals. 

As a member of the Public Health Educators in Medical Schools (PHEMS) network, he contributed to the development of the ‘Undergraduate Public Health Curriculum for the UK Medical Schools’.

He supervises fourth-year medical students (Individual Research Projects), postgraduate students (Master’s, MD and PhD degrees), public health trainees and junior doctors. 

Selected publications

Memon A, Salari Y, Bawa M, Zakikhani P. Increasing incidence of early-onset kidney cancer in young adults aged <50 years in England: an analysis of the national cancer registration data by age and gender, 1985-2020. Br J Cancer Reports. 2025; 14;3(1):32. DOI: 10.1038/s44276-025-00149-y

Lara-Castor L, O'Hearn M, Cudhea F, et al. Global Dietary Database (Memon A). Burdens of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease attributable to sugar-sweetened beverages in 184 countries. Nature Medicine. 2025; 31(2):552-564. DOI: 10.1038/s41591-024-03345-4

Miller V, Webb P, Cudhea F, et al. Global Dietary Database (Memon A). Children's and adolescents' rising animal-source food intakes in 1990-2018 were impacted by age, region, parental education and urbanicity. Nature Food. 2023; 4(4):305-319. DOI: 10.1038/s43016-023-00731-y

Pirkis J, Gunnell D, Shin S, (Memon A) et al. Suicide numbers during the first 9-15 months of the COVID-19 pandemic compared with pre-existing trends: An interrupted time series analysis in 33 countries. EClinicalMedicine (Lancet Discovery Science). 2022; 2;51:101573. DOI: 10.1016/j.eclinm.2022.101573

Memon A, Bannister P, Rogers I, et al. Changing epidemiology and age-specific incidence of cutaneous malignant melanoma in England: An analysis of the national cancer registration data by age, gender and anatomical site, 1981-2018. Lancet Reg Health Eur. 2021; 6;2:100024. DOI: 10.1016/j.lanepe.2021.100024

Memon A, Rogers I, Fitzsimmons S, et al. Association between naturally occurring lithium in drinking water and suicide rates: systematic review and meta-analysis of ecological studies. Br J Psychiatry. 2020; 217(6):667-678. DOI: 10.1192/bjp.2020.128 

Memon A, Rogers I, Paudyal P, Sundin J. Dental x-rays and the risk of thyroid cancer and meningioma: A systematic review and meta-analysis of current epidemiological evidence. Thyroid. 2019; 29(11):1572-1593. DOI: 10.1089/thy.2019.0105

Memon A and El-Turki A. Epidemiology of gynaecological cancers. Book chapter in Gynaecological Oncology for the MRCOG. Shafi MI et al. (Eds.). Cambridge University Press, 2018.

Memon A, Taylor K, Mohebati LM, et al. Perceived barriers to accessing mental health services among black and minority ethnic (BME) communities: a qualitative study in Southeast England. BMJ Open. 2016; 16;6(11):e012337. DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2016-012337

Memon A, Godward S, Williams D, et al. Dental x-rays and the risk of thyroid cancer: a case-control study. Acta Oncologica. 2010; 49(4):447-53. DOI: 10.3109/02841861003705778

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